Brochstein hours reduced

By Joey Capparella     9/9/10 7:00pm

As of the first day of classes, late-night studying at the Brochstein Pavilion is no more. A recent change in policy this summer means that the Pavilion will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The Pavilion previously closed at 10 p.m. during the week, while the weekend hours have not changed. The Pavilion opened in April 2008 as a gathering space for students, faculty, staff and visitors. The week it first opened, the Pavilion was open for 24 hours a day, as its grand opening corresponded to exam week for students. The hours of the Pavilion fluctuated as the building became a central part of campus.

"We started out closing at 1 a.m., then changed it to 11 p.m.," Director of Residential Dining David McDonald said. He said that there was not enough business during those times to support those hours.

Newly appointed Housing and Dining Project Manager Carol "CJ" Claverie, who first got involved with managing the Pavilion this summer, said that this was one of many policy changes for the Pavilion.

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"We went back to the drawing board this summer to see if the building was functioning at its best, and one of my main goals was to bring the Pavilion back to being a crossroad for students, faculty, staff and visitors," Claverie said. "It was decided that, since most of these groups are gone later in the evenings, the change in hours would be the smoothest way for the space to function for the broadest community on campus."

Psychology Professor Mikki Hebl, who uses the Pavilion frequently, said familial obligations currently keep her from using the space later in the evening.

"I usually only meet at the Brochstein during the day, but I'm not on campus after 4 p.m. because of my children," Hebl said.

However, Hebl said that when she was a junior faculty member, she often stayed on campus much later, sometimes until past midnight, and would have used the Pavilion in the evening.

Italian Professor Ryan Calabretta-Sajder says the change in hours has already affected him.

"I'm here all the time," Calabretta-Sajder said. "It's a beautiful space, and in my opinion, the university should keep it open. It's not just students who use it in the evenings."

Calabretta-Sajder said that he would often meet with other faculty and students at the Pavilion after 7 p.m.

"Now, I go home earlier," he said. "The Pavilion was a central location on campus and it's no longer available in the evenings."

The current food provider at the Pavilion is Salento Wine Cafe, a cafe, coffee shop and wine bar located in the Rice Village. Previously, Dirk's Coffee was the provider for the space. Claverie said that the change in service providers came around the same time as the change in hours, and that Salento will be serving wine in a few weeks once they work out the logistics of alcohol licensing. Wine will only be available from 3-7 p.m. because of a campus policy that does not allow the sale of alcohol before 3 p.m., Claverie said.

Associate Vice President of Housing and Dining Mark Ditman said these hours are based on two years of data showing that sales dropped dramatically after 6 p.m.

"Basically, it's a fluid situation. As needs change, you'll see the operating schedule reflect that," Ditman said. "If business builds in that 6-7 p.m. window, Salento will be responsive and extend operating hours."

Ditman also said that it might be possible to have the space be open even while the food provider is closed, though this approach would also have limitations.

"It's conceivable, but it would require staffing," Ditman said. "Leaving the building unlocked and unsupervised is problematic from a safety and security standpoint. You want to be able to ensure the safety of not only the people inside, but also the facility itself."

However, the change in hours has already created problems for students on campus. For instance, Rice's Italian club, Circolo Italiano, was forced to move to Herring Hall for their weekly 8 p.m. meetings.

"It wasn't that hard to find a new space, but the Pavilion was nice because it was a central location where you could get a cup of coffee and hang out beforehand," Brown College sophomore Grace Serio, the club's secretary, said.

In addition to informal meetings, the Pavilion also provides a space for a variety of special events. Claverie said that the building can still be rented out for a fee, even after hours.

"The rental money is currently going into a general fund for operations," Claverie said. "It's an expensive building to run."

Claverie said that there were also plans to extend the Pavilion's hours as final exams approach. "That's when students want more coffee space," she said. "We plan to get the Student Association and [Graduate Student Association]'s input so that we can see what the student demand is for study space."

However, some students were not even aware hours had changed.

"I used to come get coffee here while studying because it was so close to the library," Duncan College sophomore Krisina Zuniga said. "I haven't tried coming later yet this year, but I did not know that the hours had changed."

Political Science graduate student Tobias Heinrich said he was not aware of the change either. However, Heinrich also said that he had not ever used the Pavilion later in the evening.

Sid Richardson College junior Simone Elder said she has been turned off because of the recent changes.

"I like to study late into the night and I need my coffee, so I feel like they're losing a lot of business by closing so early," Elder said. "I stopped going this year anyways when the prices went up because of Salento. It's almost twice the price of Coffeehouse now.

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