University of Virginia Library

Popular Hotspot?

Nor was Mr. Herring at all
sure that, once completed, the
Rathskeller would be the
popular hotspot that its
proponents three years ago
intended it to be. Attributing
this to the fickleness of
student's tastes, he recalled that
while the bowling lanes which
originally occupied the game
room were very popular in the
early sixties, students had
stopped patronizing them by
the end of the decade, If this
becomes the case with the
Rathskeller, it could turn out
to be in Mr. Herring's words, a
"$100,000 boo-boo".

However, he agreed that the
need for people to get
together, relax, and talk,
couldn't be tossed off as a
passing fancy. Hopefully, the
Rathskeller would do what
Newcomb Hall has failed to do;
that is, provide a place where
students might actually want
to spend a few hours.

This is the fourth semester
that money from students'
Comprehensive Fee has been
collected for this project.
According to Vice President
for Student Affairs D. Alan
Williams, the extra fee will
either be dropped when the
Rathskeller is paid for, or it
will be continued in order to
finance other Improvements in
Newcomb Hall, such as
constructing an outdoor patio
and fountain adjoining the
Grill.

Why has it taken so long for

this project to materialize?
"Nobody with any power has
been pushing it," answered
University Union's Richard
Kruger. Mr. Herring, Mr.
Canevari, and other members
of the Rathskeller Committee
attribute the delay to other
priorities, and the
slow-working "system" in
general. Perhaps a lack of
planning and organization
would be a better explanation.

When will it be built? There
seem to be as many answers to
this question as there are
members of the Committee.
However, everyone was in
agreement in their
bewilderment at the
astonishing way in which
months turn into years.

"We made our initial
mistake in not involving the
architects earlier," explained
Mr. Canevari. He added that he
hoped the Rathskeller would
be the answer to the decaying
state of Newcomb Hall.

When, or if, indeed, it is
completed, perhaps it will give
students what they can't find
anywhere else on the Grounds
today; a centrally located place
in which to gather.