By: Kerri Linsenbigler
Features Editor
During my first day back at Bonaventure, I walked blindly around my familiar campus. I passed by the ivy leaves on Dev, the line at the Hickey and the buzzing Richter Center until I finally reached the Reilly Center. While the business building construction is hard not to miss, it’s not what caught my attention.
As soon as I strolled through the RC doors, I knew something was off. The RC Café looked… new. Over the summer the café had been transformed into an entirely different space.
I couldn’t believe it. I rushed inside and tried to take in all of the changes.
Gone were the outdated wainscoting and the booths. They had been replaced by sleek brown and white chairs. Even the service areas had been remodeled.
“I had a high degree of confidence that it was the right thing to do for this space,” said Brenda McGee, vice president for administration and business. “We took the opportunity to try and personalize it to Bonaventure.”
Even the floor is personalized to Bonaventure with a Bonnies logo welcoming you into the dining area. The usually blank walls now have a huge mural dedicated to the school’s sports. Division I is represented by a screaming Meagan Van Tatenhove, while the women’s rugby team dominates the right corner, along with a collage of other club, intramural and DI teams.
According to McGee, ARAMARK funded the nearly $400,000 project, which was money well spent.
As a campus tour guide, I have often mentioned the delicious
RC wraps as my tour group and I walked by the RC Café, but I rarely took anyone inside. I just wasn’t sure that the dingy, outdated space would impress any perspective students. Thanks to these renovations, however, the RC Café will definitely be added to my list of stops. It looks clean, new and very Bonaventure, which not only impresses future students, but current ones as well.
Admittedly, there are some functional problems. If you’re short, ordering a wrap is frustrating. The glass surrounding the station is way over my head, which made it very hard to hear what the worker was saying. Also, the serving space has been condensed to allow for more dining room, according to McGee. During the lunch rush, there is barely enough room to squeeze through.
The workers have less space in which to prepare the food and to navigate. There is barely enough room behind the counter for workers to walk past each other. I can only imagine how congested and clausterophobic that must be.
Regardless of these shortcomings, this renovation was much needed. Thanks to the recently added touches, like comfortable booths, more to-go food options and a larger coffee selection, the RC is unrecognizable.
“Data shows that facilities matter,” McGee said.
And I couldn’t agree more.
