The residents of Heslington East will not get their own campus bar until 2014 at the earliest, and potentially not for another 20 years, Vision can reveal.
“There currently isn’t enough student demand on Heslington East to justify building a social and catering building,” Director of Commercial Services, Jon Greenwood, disclosed in an exclusive interview with Vision.
Goodricke is set to be joined on Hes East by Langwith in 2012, adding 600 students to the new campus. Greenwood argues that a campus of 1200 residents isn’t enough to support the business model of the bar.
The planning permission for Hes East allows for a total of five colleges to eventually occupy the area. The second campus could therefore potentially host an additional three brand new colleges in the coming years.
Currently, the first of these colleges is anticipated to open in 2014, and Greenwood does not believe that any bars will open before this.
“The third college is being planned now. It has not been decided when the social and catering space will be built, but it will not open any time before the third college opens.”
Goodricke Chair Nacho Hernando has fired back against these claims, stating that “the feedback we have been receiving strongly suggests that there is enough demand for a bar on Hes East.
“We currently have over 600 undergraduates living in halls, several hundred students in the four departments as well as a significant student population in the adjacent Badger Hill neighbourhood.”
The closest bars and pubs are the Charles and the Black Bull which are relatively far away from Goodricke.”
Greenwood is being backed up by Elizabeth Heaps, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Estates and Strategic Projects, who oversees the Hes East development plans.
“The third college is currently anticipated to open in 2014, and will be a brand new one. We have no target dates for the others, but the whole development may take 20 years or more.
“Any new developments in catering services and bars will need to be supported by a sound business case. Langwith College will be open in 2012, and a bar is not expected to be open before then.”
But Hernando argues that when Langwith moves over, “there will certainly be no excuse not to have a bar in Hes East.
“In an ideal world not only would this bar be built at the latest by the time of their arrival, but it would also be designed and built with a very close collaboration with the JCRCs.”
There isn’t enough demand for the existing University bars on campus, let alone that for what is still a small, satellite campus at present. It’s clear that most students are attracted into town to privately run venues which can afford to invest (and risk) multi-million pound refurbishments.
I think Warwick, a campus university of similar size, is a great model. It has one really good campus bar rather than multiple half to completely empty ones.
Having seen the plans for Hes East, there is definitely going to be a student venue of some sort. A lot sooner than 20 years time.
I’m guessing that the 1,200 residents will also be added to by the departments that are already on Hes East. The Courtyard doesn’t make all their money from Langwith students: it’s a comfortable, convenient and nice place to meet up and chat or even work.
Are Commerical Services so stupid that they can’t see an opportunity to be the ONLY bar somewhere that is crying out for some entertainment/interest?
I would like to add that it is outrageous that I have had to learn about the development of Hes East from the press rather than through the expected dialogue that should exist between students and the University management through the JCRCs.
The overarching problem that needs to be dealt with is the lack of communication!
Only through a continuous dialogue will changes and decisions be sustainable and efficient.
The Warwick model isn’t a particularly great one – whoever heard of the great spirit at Warwick Uni? A better model would be that of Durham’s – a uni split into colleges just like ours, each allocated a bar in nice surroundings which are really close to student accommodation. They become a hub in the days and the evenings, which is really what Goodricke needs.
@Nacho and everyone else commenting.
Good luck with this Nacho mate, its gonna be a long slog.
I think what needs to change most is the attitude to what the bar is to be used for.
Todays society welcomes casual and social drinking as a norm, its not a bad thing its our culture. A student bar therefore is critical for the whole ‘student experience’ malarchy that the University of York and Miss Grenville pride themselves on.
Now, whilst 600+ (not to mention over 1000 in the coming 1-2 years) might not constitue what is considered a ‘viable business model’ (To me it does, but I know nothing about the business side of this deal), the university should concentrate on providing this bar as a service.
Even if it were to potentially operate at a loss for a year or two, the bar should be there for current students to enjoy, rather than waiting 5 years until we’re begging for one. Provide students on Hes east with more UofY!!! (*cough cough* cash machine & shop! *cough* )
Love x