RRCSA plans to open a coffee kiosk at NDC by 2018

Shreya Jhunjhunwala, CONTRIBUTOR

A Grab N Go kiosk will be available to students attending classes at the new Skilled Trades and Technology Centre (STTC) at the Notre Dame Campus by early 2018. The 100,000 square-foot STTC that will accommodate around 1,000 students is currently under construction.

The Red River College Students’ Association is still waiting for a final approval from the school and Tim Hortons, but SA president Adam Taplin said that a coffee and snack station of some kind is in the works.

NDC currently has four places where students can get something to eat, ranging from made-to-order breakfasts at the Voyageur Dining Room to grab-and-go coffee and sandwiches at Java Junction. The new building will be connected to the rest of the campus so trades students have access to a wider variety.

Taplin said the decision to go with a kiosk instead of a full-service restaurant was mostly an issue of space availability.

“Obviously, the school’s top priority is that there are classrooms for the students and lab spaces,” Taplin said. “The kiosk was really all we could get.”

The proposed Grab N Go will include a self-serve Tim Hortons coffee station along with quick snacks like donuts, muffins, hot dogs, and chips. The kiosk will mainly serve the roughly 1,000 trades students looking to get a quick snack between classes.

The STTC building will still be connected to the main campus. If students have more time, they can walk farther to get a hot meal from other restaurants on campus.

“For the trade students to come here, even from where they are now, is a little bit of a farther jaunt for a cup of coffee,” Taplin said. “So we just wanted to provide them with something.”

Ryan Friesen, 22, an electrical student, said he thinks his classes will probably shift to the new building once it opens. He cuts short his one-hour lunch break to 30 minutes so he can go home early once his classes are done for the day. He said that a kiosk is probably good enough for that side of the building.

Izzet Rodriguez, 23, a building design technology student, said he thinks a kiosk is better than a full-service restaurant.

“It would reduce the line-ups here too. It’s faster at the kiosk,” he said, referring to the lunch hour queues at the Buffalo Cafeteria.

The hours for the kiosk will be announced closer to the opening.