The university hopes to offer organic, free-trade coffee in a café called North Side Bistro in Deerfield Hall when it opens, among other changes to appear in the fall, according to new details released last week and earlier this month at a meeting of the Food Services Advisory Committee.
The Second Cup in the Davis Building will move to the Innovation Complex and be expanded, along with food items typical of the On the Go stations elsewhere on campus.
The Complex will also include 180 classroom seats, 184 seats for casual and lounge seating, and 74 seats in food services. According to blueprints, the rotunda can be rearranged for use as formal or informal study space during high-demand times.
In Deerfield Hall, the first new phase of the North Building, the new café will include a soup station, artisan bread, a pizza oven, and European coffee of a brand the university hopes will be organic and free-trade, according to Andrea de Vito, assistant director of hospitality and retail services. There will also be a lounge and seating area overlooking the Five-Minute Walk.
The building will also include 602 seats, of which 72 are intended for the café.
“It’s going to be something. We’re quite excited,” said Paul Donoghue, UTM’s chief administrative officer.
Colman Commons will also be expanded in mid-November, doubling its capacity. The food services will remain open to all students and will include a new late-night café. The expansion will also include landscaping and a patio that Donoghue suggested will be similar to the area outside the Instructional Centre.
A pedestrian walkway connecting Deerfield Hall and Davis via a service tunnel will also be accessible next year. Such a tunnel has always existed but has been low-profile.
The heated bus shelter that was recently proposed will also be ready in the fall, he said.
Further in the future, phase 2 of the Davis Building renovation will be undertaken, including a completely expanded Meeting Place with a permanent food court and student services plaza. This phase is still in the planning stages.
According to Donoghue, none of these projects will compromise UTM’s natural environment but will preserve the “small-town feel”.
“In Deerfield Hall, the first new phase of the North Building, the new café will include a soup station, artisan bread, a pizza oven, and European coffee of a brand the university hopes will be organic and free-trade.” What a dumb idea, now they can charge $15-20 lunches….thank you UTM for making university much more unaffordable. This campus honestly caters completely to the over privileged international student population. As a citizen of Canada Im watching as you make post-secondary schooling and everything associated with it further out of reach. You are not Harvard, this is a public university and your goal is for the betterment of society not the extortion of. I hope UTM screws their heads back on and realizes that they can’t just do whatever they want.
“As a citizen of Canada”? What does that have to do with anything? I’m a Canadian and I’m personally quite happy with those additions. Who doesn’t want artisan bread and pizza from a legit pizza oven? Everyone has been complaining that we need better food on campus. You can’t ask for something better and expect to pay the same price for it.