By Jessica Robinson, Staff Reporter
After months of waiting, The Pub Downunder is finally open — and the Laurentian community could not be happier.
“On opening day, I was down there at 11:30 in the morning, and it was packed to the brim,” said Daniel Melchior, Vice President of Student Life for the Students’ General Association (SGA).
Melchior is “ecstatic” that pub is open. “I’ve been there [at pub] every day this week,” he said.
Melchior explained that, once they got rolling, there weren’t really any problems getting pub up and running.
“Staff came back, pub managers came back,” he said. “We’re all happy it’s open.”
As for putting the finishing touches on the establishment, the SGA is going to hold off until the end of the term; after all, pub is only open for the next month, and then closes for the start of Winter term exams.
“Might as well just roll with what we have now, build some hype, and then we’ll do our finishing touches later,” Melchior said.
Feb. 25 saw the year’s first pub night, where, by 9:30 p.m., students were looking at an hour or so wait just to get through the doors. By all counts, opening night was reported to be a success.
As pub nights also come back into effect, attendees can look forward to some old favourites.
“Country pub is coming up, same thing with the Customer Appreciation night, St. Paddy’s day is on St. Paddy’s day,” said Melchior. He continued on to discuss the idea of trivia nights, or other non-party events for the space.
Johnny Humphrey, the current SGA President, is serving his second and final term in the position, and is “extremely excited” about the pub being open.
“I think (it’s) not only me, I think everybody is happy,” Humphrey said. “The staff and the faculty, even on top of the students — I think the whole community’s happy that pub is back open.”
“Obviously it took longer than we hoped, but I guess that sort of happens,” Humphrey continued. “This year, the timelines were a little uncertain, so we weren’t sure whether we were going to open, when we were going to open… The main thing is, it’s open, we have food down there, [and] next year you can look forward to even bigger things.”
“We’re looking forward to the remainder of the year,” he said, “doing as best we can to make it an enjoyable experience for the students.”
The Pub Downunder, located down the stairs across from Subway, is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The space is also available for clubs to rent out; if interested, you can contact Daniel Melchior through email at vpstudentlife@laurentian.ca.
-Photos by Jessica Robinson
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