Both the First and New Student Centres at York will remain closed this fall as the school continues to enforce proper COVID-19 health and safety measures.
The decision against reopening the student centres this semester may help to prevent the spread of the virus, but it will also cause problems for the students and businesses that use the spaces for their daily activities and services.
The fact that there are no places on campus to study or explore during these times doesn’t help much.”
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the student centres offered a variety of amenities, including student retail services, food, clubs, and commercial services. Students were welcome to book study rooms, given space to host events, and were even provided with a congregation space in the New Student Centre. Moreover, these centres served as spacious areas for students to simply sit and meet with friends, or to enjoy meals provided by the restaurants located inside.
Now that these facilities will not be up and running this semester, students are left wondering where they can continue these activities.
Being confined to a small dorm room during the pandemic is challenging,” says Priyaan Lall, a third-year economics student. “The fact that there are no places on campus to study or explore during these times doesn’t help much.”
Ashley Binns, a fourth-year criminology student at York, is also concerned over the lack of study space now provided on campus. “I would use the New Student Centre to study or finish assignments because I can’t always study at my house. Not having that space open this semester is going to suck.”
Along with students, businesses are being impacted by the extended closure. Businesses at both student centres are required to shut down for the time being.
The Underground, a restaurant located in the First Student Centre, is one of the businesses that will remain closed this fall.
I genuinely enjoyed working at Mia Fresco,” Bhutani explains. “It was also a convenient place to work since it was only a few steps away from where I used to live at Pond Residence.”
With The Underground’s temporary closure, not only will students be losing another dining option, they will be losing another place of entertainment where they can escape and indulge in the assortment of arcade and lounge style games found in the restaurant’s break room.
“It was such a fun place to go with friends,” says Juan Ramirez, a third-year international business administration (iBBA) student at the Schulich School of Business. “We’d go to The Underground after class to shoot some pool and maybe grab a couple drinks.”
The prolonged closure of restaurants also creates a loss of jobs for students living on or near campus. Srishti Bhutani, a third-year iBBA student at Schulich and a former employee of the Mia Fresco restaurant located inside the Second Student Centre, is one of many students who won’t have the option of returning to the job she held last year.
I genuinely enjoyed working at Mia Fresco,” Bhutani explains. “It was also a convenient place to work since it was only a few steps away from where I used to live at Pond Residence.”
When not at work, Bhutani was yet another student that could be found using the Second Student Centre as a study space.
“I am someone who loves to study somewhere where it is neither too quiet nor too loud, and the New Student Centre was the perfect place for that,” states Bhutani. “Moreover the contrast of their casual versus more library-like seating arrangements made it an enjoyable place for studying or hanging out with friends.”
Any hope for the closure of the student centres to be dissipated this fall is gone, but as for the winter semester, reopening the buildings is still a possibility. It will all depend on the state of the global pandemic in the new year.
Sources: Priyaan Lall (Major in Economics at York); Ashley Binns (Major in Criminology at York); Juan Ramirez (International Bachelor of Business Administration at York); Srishti Bhutani (International Bachelor of Business Administration at York)
