The new catering concept for the UT continues to develop. Last week, the Executive Board decided to combine the Mensa and the Stek restaurant into a Grand Café and to open the Theatercafé only during the daytime for private lunches and group events.
There will be two `lunch corners' situated in Horst and Citadel/Ravelijn. The latter is especially for the School of Management and Governance which will move there in 2009. In November 2006 the Executive Board decided to shut down the Mensa in the Bastille and to integrate this into a large, central company restaurant in the Waaier. The catering heart of the new Education and Research (O&O) center will be there - where all O&O functions of the UT will be concentrated - as well as in Langezijds, which will get a more commercial look due to its close relationship with the Knowledge Park.
The main consequence of these measures is that the canteens in Hogekamp and Capitool will disappear in due time and that the Cubicus canteen will be reduced to soda and candy machines. There is still some speculation as to the function of the canteen in the Spiegel. That canteen might become an `unmanned catering location with vending machines' as of 2009. A part of the kitchen would be used as a `catering service' for the Executive Board and the service departments in the building.
The Theatercafé has apparently seen its best days; it will no longer be the place where people eat lunch inside, or drink beers outside on the terrace. During the day, the location will be used for private group lunches and social gatherings, usually in conclusion of other events in the building. After 4 pm, the supervising cultural organization Apollo may still use the café.
The renovation of the Waaier will start in 2008 and will last a year. A proposal has been made by the Executive Board and will be sent to the University Council. The new restaurant (a `food court' with `strong product presentation and a fresh look, relaxed atmosphere, good lunches, cheap daily menus, free flow elements, line buffets, front cooking and a multifunctional area to sit') will open in 2009. The Executive Board estimates 1000 to 1200 customers a day - students, employees, guests. During the renovation, a temporary catering location will be set up in Langezijds. The two `lunch corners,' where people can also eat their brownbag lunch, will get a `trendy assortment,' anticipating the growing number of students (to ten thousand) and employees. The three catering locations in the O&O center will differ from each other in `specific elements of the assortment' according to the plans.
Kees van Ast, the portfolio holder in the Executive Board, says the catering function will be outsourced to an external company. The invitation to bid will start next month. `Current staff, now UT employees, will be employed by the new caterer, rather than by the UT itself.'
There is also speculation on whether Ravelijn will be renovated or demolished to make place for a new building. If Ravelijn is sufficient for the School of Management and Governance, Citadel may be used as a temporary location for groups in transit and as a place for students to study, according to Van Ast.
The Executive Board is keeping the Drienerburght hotel and the Faculty Club out of the catering plans. According to Van Ast the hotel is in desperate need of an upgrade and there might be a possibility of a combination with the Faculty Club down the road. Both could profit from each other's company. The director of the Drienerburght has been asked to draw up a plan for this. According to Van Ast it is quite reasonable to think that a new hotel will be placed next to the Faculty Club, `for instance at the Drienerlolaan'. But it may not be that simple, because plans in that direction will first be measured against what the new arrangement in Langezijds will bring. `The question that will always surface is how commercial we want to be as a university.'
