First-year Katherine McCarty and junior Lydia Alfrey train in King cafe, but will not be able to put their skills to work until Nov. 15. (Lauren Fleming)
Students hoping to save extra steps walking uptown for coffee will have to wait a few more weeks before they will be able to make a pit stop at the new cafe in King Library.
Concerns about safety and security continue to stall the opening of the new student cafe and study lounge at King Library, which was originally set to open at the start of the 2006 fall semester. The cafe is now scheduled to open Nov.15.
Though fully furnished and ready to brew beverages, the cafe cannot open due to a security issue that was accidentally overlooked when the new ground floor entrance to the library was renovated.
"Basically, it comes down to a lock on a set of doors - it's a code compliance issue," said Jason Jackson, officer of acting special projects at King.
Jackson said the main doors to the cafe were accidentally marked as fire exits in the original blueprint layout of the renovation, however the doors should have been made to lock, which fire exits cannot do. The doors had previously been used as a loading dock for the library, and were made into emergency exits when construction began. When workers realized the mistake, the simple solution was to just add locks to the doors.
However, safety codes prohibit placing locks on all emergency exits, which posed security problems for the cafe. Doors that are marked with an exit sign are used for fire safety exits and security laws prohibit placing locks on these doors because they need to be open at all times in case of an emergency. The library lacks available staff personnel to work downstairs throughout the night, and since King is open 24 hours five days out of the week, there would be no way to prevent students or faculty from entering the cafe during closed hours.
The $6 million construction project at King, which includes a full renovation of the ground and third floors, is scheduled to be completed by Nov.15, but Jackson said he hopes the cafe and lounge can open much sooner.
These kinds of problems are common when new space is built for public use, according to Jackson. He said a special consultant hired by BHDP Architecture, the library's architectural firm, has been working with code compliance officials of Ohio to solve the issue.
The delay has caused confusion among students, whom Jackson said have seen staff training downstairs and assumed they could buy drinks. Still, he acknowledges that most students have been understanding of the slow process and are abiding by signs that indicate the setback in plans.
"We've been very fortunate that students are abiding by signs," Jackson said.
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Jackson mentioned that the library will most likely rely on word of mouth and announcements from Department of Housing, Dining and Guest Services to tell students when the cafe is ready to open.
The cafe, which will serve Starbucks coffee as well as sandwiches, will only stay open until 11 p.m. (see box).
Miami students expressed enthusiasm about using the new facilities, but had questions regarding the cafe's limited hours.
"I look forward to seeing it open," said sophomore Cassie Caldwell. "I think it's a good option for students when they're studying at the library but I think it would be a better if they had late night hours."
Caldwell also wondered how the cafe could help students who are studying past 11 p.m. and who don't want to walk uptown that late at night.
Once open, the intent of new cafe is to attract students to King both for academic and social purposes.
"I think the library is going to be more packed," said junior Svetlana Shirman. "I think it will be used for more social purposes."
Jackson echoed these statements.
"King is also a social place," Jackson said. "It's not just a place where people come to study."
He said that many students rely on King as their main study location, and students were surprised to hear of the other libraries that were available during the construction.
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