Spring Break
Pond Street to temporarily close after a slow semester
Eatery's future remains uncertain
Michael Carroll
Pond Street Grill will be closing after dinner on Wednesday a university official said Thursday.
Craig Allen, director of Residential Services, said the future of the building, located in the Worth Hills area of campus, is uncertain.
"We actually are hoping that maybe we can have it open for people to use it as a study space," Allen said.
The short-term transformation would only be in effect until the end of the semester, but the possibility of it happening depends on whether the equipment and other materials in the building can be secured, Allen said.
Last semester, the closing of two campus dining locations, Edens and Deco Deli, caused a small number of Dining Services employees to be laid off. That will not be the case with employees this time around, said Legia Abato, district marketing manager for Dining Services.
"They are going to be absorbed into the rest of our operation," she said.
Allen said students can expect the building to be changed as soon as next month.
"In January we'll have something new," Allen said. "It won't be open as it is now."
Whether dining will be the focus of the building once it changes next month is uncertain, Allen said.
"There just hasn't been a lot of interest in food down there," Allen said. "It's just not doing any business."
Abato said the closing of Pond St. was not unforeseen.
"It was something we went into knowing it was a possibility and we were hoping it wouldn't happen," Abato said. "We tweaked the menu a bit in hopes of keeping some of it alive, but that location has traditionally been a difficult location to create something that would keep our customers down there happy."
The popularity of the location enjoyed in previous years fell off dramatically this semester because of Market Square, the new dining hall on campus, Abato said.
"That tends to happen when you have a brand new facility and you have another one that's a bit older," she said. "I know we're still working with the school to see what will be the next generation. I just don't know what it is."
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Andrew Houk
posted 12/09/08 @ 1:37 PM CST
News at 11, Craig Allen continues his delusion that residents of Worth Hills are not interested in Pond Street. The facts are very simple: Residents of Worth Hills simply don't go to Pond Street not because of the so called greatness of the New Main, which offers little variety and horrible food quality, but because it takes FROG BUCKS, which can easily be used at off campus eateries. (Continued…)
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