By Tucker Reilly
Editor-in-Chief
St. Bonaventure University’s rathskeller, located underneath the Hickey Dining Hall, has begun renovations. Affectionately referred to as “The Skeller” by students, plans for the renovation process have been in the works for several months.
The rathskeller was last renovated in 2012, when that year’s graduating class donated $11,500 for visual and furniture upgrades.
“The walls have been painted in the iconic brown, yellow and white and old TV’s have been switched to sleek flat screens,” read a blog post released by the class of 2012. “A new sound system keeps the place bumpin’ for senior social on Friday nights and open mic nights on Thursdays. There’s new carpeting and pictures up and more additions to come!”
Tom Missel, the university’s chief communications officer, described the origin of this year’s renovations and the involvement of students in the process.
“The project is being funded by Aramark and is another in a long line of projects – new pavilion at the golf course, the Doyle Conference Center, Hickey, La Verna and Freshens improvements they’ve financed, as tremendous partners with the university,” said Missel. “Students, via SGA, had a significant say in what they hoped to see in Skeller renovations.”
Several of the recent construction projects around campus have focused on providing space for events, as well as student use. Renderings for the Devereux pavilion – which began construction in April 2021 – included event seating and bar attachments; and the Fairway View Pavilion on the St. Bonaventure Golf Course advertises special event booking. Missel highlighted this dual focus in the new rathskeller design.
“The Rathskeller, once completed, will become a much more viable venue not only for student use but for outside groups wishing to reserve it for their functions,” said Missel.
While construction has started on the rathskeller, the timeframe for completion is less clear than on previous projects.
“Rathskeller renovations are well under way, with hopes of being completed by the start of the fall semester,” said Missel. “We’d love to be able to give a more definitive timeline but the pandemic has created so many supply chain issues that it’s become impossible to guarantee any project’s completion date.”
reillyt19@bonaventure.edu
