If you’ve been on campus for more than a year, or maybe not even that long, you probably know and love our beloved campus coffee shop Common Grounds. However, you may have noticed that Common Grounds is noticeably absent. Trivia is still hosted in the old space for the shop, like it was last year, but now you can’t even get a chocolate milkshake now to drink your sorrows away when you only get three points on a trivia round. So where is it? Thankfully, you won’t have to wait much longer, as it will be coming back by the end of the month, according to the Common Grounds managers.
The actual construction of the new space is expected to be done by Sept. 15, with the opening happening near the end of the month. There has to be time in between these dates for the baristas to get used to the new space and for new baristas to be trained, since there hasn’t been a space for training up until now. The managers hosted a staff meeting this last Tuesday the 6th to discuss the move with the other employees, and a lot of new information was made public about the relocation to clear up some of the foggy details surrounding Common Ground’s return.
The new space will feature some of the same seating options as the space downstairs, with probably some new chairs or couches given the size increase of the shop. It will also be right next to the Den, which is the mini-restaurant that is also on the top floor of the University Commons. Last year, there was a lot of protest against this among the students on campus as they claimed that it would “ruin the vibe” of the calm and peaceful coffee shop by placing it right next to the sometimes noisy seating area of the den. Speaking of noise, another big complaint from the student switch this move was the noise from the gym, as that area is right across the commons from the new Common Grounds space. From what it sounds like, the management of Common Grounds and the administration of the school aren’t too concerned about this factor, so hopefully they will be able to take some measures against this. It also seems like Common Grounds will be sharing kitchen space with the Den, which probably won’t be too much of an impact for the Common Grounds employees, since most of the drink-making is done outside of the kitchen and on the counter space within the shop. This back area that Common Grounds will share with the Den will most likely be used mainly for storage.
There are many people on campus who can’t wait for Common Grounds to return, which is causing a bit of anxiety around this subject. A lot of students don’t feel like the campus is complete without a morning wake-me-up from Common Grounds, and the good vibes from it are noticeably absent. Hopefully this helped to clear up any questions about campus’ favorite coffee shop going missing for the first month of the year.
