In the next few weeks, students can expect to see some major changes at the future location of Au Bon Pain, such as a new door leading to an outdoor patio.
This healthy sandwich and pastries shop that will be making its new home in the SAC missed its target opening in late fall 2014, but it is now scheduled to open in early March.
Greg Mercer, superintendent for Solomon Builders Inc., explained that the plans have changed over time, creating a lengthy waiting period for construction.
“At first it was going to be a fitness studio and a restaurant, they came back and changed their minds and decided they wanted a restaurant only,” Mercer said. “So then it has to go back through the examiner, back through the codes, back from the start, then back to the architect, back to us to price, then back to architects to revise, and back to us to start building. So that’s been part of the delays is that right there — the changes that have been made and the revisions that have been made in the project.”
The space that was once an auxiliary training room has been missed by gym-goers during the last few months.
“The gym is like already small and now there’s like six of us working out in the hallway,” sophomore Ashley Haley said.
“It’s kind of annoying because I pay to go here, so I would like to see my money going to something that I feel like people would use more,” sophomore Morgan Goodlow said.
Matthew Abplanalp, director of campus recreation, explained that with construction it is hard to tell what’s going to happen.
“I think some employees, students, myself have been a little irritated with the process — just how long it’s taken. When you’re working on a project that involves construction you just don’t know what you’re going to run in to.”
While the new eatery will take away gym space, Abplanalp said there are plans for more workout space in the future.
“And it doesn’t stop here. I mean, we have a restaurant, but there are development plans in the future for more workout space. Obviously, it’s a need for students and a voice that they’re voicing and hopefully it’s being heard as well.”
Although students may have been concerned with the project’s progress, Mercer said the plan is now set in place and the construction crew is moving forward. Students can expect to see major changes in the next two weeks.
Additional reporting by Leslie Newman