Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)’s plans to add a café to Haven Books & Café have been postponed to next semester due to renovations taking longer than expected.
The update comes in light of the 2018-19 budget being approved on Aug. 8 which proposed renovations to the bookstore—filed under “Depreciation” and “Capital Assets”—to include a new café space modelled after other local cafés in the Old Ottawa South community.
Luke Taylor, CUSA’s vice-president (finance) who took the lead on the project, said the renovations took longer partly due to the relocation and rebranding of the former-Henry’s convenience store—also proposed in the budget.
“There was basically two projects going at once, and we had multiple things on the go,” he said. “I think the Wing turned out really well, but we didn’t want to rush Haven to meet that deadline. We already had one project going, so we kind of pushed the Wing up ahead in our priority list and instead said, ‘let’s take our time with Havens.’”
Taylor said renovations to the bookstore needed more work to make sure the process is done properly.
“We don’t want to stress out, for example, the manager of the bookstore with doing cafe stuff because they’re two specialized skills, so we’d really like to have employees or an assistant manager that focuses specifically with the cafe,” he added.
“It did get into different levels of complications, as well as looking at procurement for espresso machines.”
CUSA President David Oladejo told the Charlatan that renovation plans also include purchasing an espresso machine and other equipment.
“The cafe is almost done—we’re finishing up on some renovations,” he said. “We should be good for second semester.”
“No one wants to rush the project; we want to do it right, so right now, it’s looking a bit later, and also the construction on that street is pretty hectic,” he added.
Taylor said the business will be delayed until January, adding the café will also be extending hours to be open until 10 p.m. instead of the regular 8 p.m. hours and will be hiring more staff members.
“Right now, January is looking like the solid date. It could even be open earlier, but I don’t want to over-promise anything,” he said.
—With files from Temur Durrani
Photo by Spencer Colby
