Rutgers Club Relocating
- Thread starter srru86
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when Gateway was built we tried hard to have the Rutgers Club moved to the second floor above the Bookstore with a terrace overlooking Old Queens. There would have been en entrance at Easton and Somerset Street with a ground floor Pub Space opened to the public with the private club and catering area upstairs. Would have been perfect for wedding receptions for weddings at Kirkpatrick or St, Peters also .
Rutgers dining told us nobody in their right mind would put a Club upstairs. Now they are putting the Club in Piscataway upstairs in a dining hall...Go figure
Rutgers dining told us nobody in their right mind would put a Club upstairs. Now they are putting the Club in Piscataway upstairs in a dining hall...Go figure
The location at Gateway would have been a much better choice by far.
Cofifa,
Do you think putting it in the new George Street Playhouse/Crossroads Theater building would be a good spot ? Is it too late to put that in the plans ?
Do you think putting it in the new George Street Playhouse/Crossroads Theater building would be a good spot ? Is it too late to put that in the plans ?
My shoulders literally dropped after reading this. :(
To be fair Livingston Dining Hall is really nice. The Gateway idea is just so much better. Rutgers needs some nicer bars for the students in the Easton Ave area. Besides brother Jimmy's they're all dive bars.
Sounds like a big missed opportunity. Having the Rutgers club at Gateway would have been much desirable. Even with the improvements on Livingston, i'd much rather be on a terrace with a beer overlooking Old Queens.
Somehow this University has managed to survive and thrive over the course of 250 years, despite the idiotic decisions its administrators make. How you choose to move the Rutgers Club to Livingston over the Gateway is beyond me.
Sorry, but if an individual human made this decision, that person is a moron and should be fired. But only because it would be illegal to tie cinder blocks to his or her feet and dump him or her off the Goodkind Bridge.
A terrace overlooking Old Queens? Really?
How about rebuilding the President's House back where it used to be on Queens Campus next to the chapel, get rid of the parking lot and put the club on one floor of that?
I was stunned to get a look at Livingston for the first time in six years earlier this month, and it is pretty awesome what has been done over there. But it's still not overlooking Old Queens.
A terrace overlooking Old Queens? Really?
How about rebuilding the President's House back where it used to be on Queens Campus next to the chapel, get rid of the parking lot and put the club on one floor of that?
I was stunned to get a look at Livingston for the first time in six years earlier this month, and it is pretty awesome what has been done over there. But it's still not overlooking Old Queens.
I'll be in minority and say I'm in favor of the move to Livingston ... assuming the Rutgers Club keeps its same mission and profile. The Rutgers Club is generally only used for meetings, special dinners and events. No one hangs out there, and if there is no event, it is mostly empty. The current club is basically an old house, whose rooms are now used for other purposes. It is not very attractive or particularly functional. If is to be used in the same way, Livingston offers easy parking in a new facility.
I recall hearing about it as a student when I found out a fraternity brother's girlfriend had a job there.
IMO I think no matter where it goes it will still be more of an Alumni thing/place than anything else.
How do you figure? Why would Livingston-based students be more involved than College Ave-based students?
Dining halls are visited by thousands of students a day. Just seeing a sign for the club will make a student wonder.
The old building was literally in a location that a hand full of students would see.
My friends and I had dinner at the Rutgers Club frequently as students from 06-10, and we weren't the only ones. It was a nice break from Brower with better food, you just had to make a reservation and use a meal swipe.
Maybe it had fallen in popularity in recent years, but either way I'm sure it will always be full on Livingston.
Maybe it had fallen in popularity in recent years, but either way I'm sure it will always be full on Livingston.
l think it will do better there than the old spot too.
Just hope it ends up having a nice "look" to it.
Rutgers isn't Harvard or Yale. Just stop.yale
harvard
rutgers
I'm not sure what the point of posting pics of Y or H alumni clubs in Manhattan are when the subject of this thread is an on-campus alumni club. That said, I imagine Y and H have impressive ones in New Haven and Cambridge, respectively. Hopefully what comes of the new Rutgers one is something that we can be proud of and will attract more traffic to it.
I would have probably liked to see them relocate to another spot in NB (maybe somewhere in the Gateway building could have been a nice spot if planned when they designed it a few years ago), or a more centrally prominent location such as when they revamp the Brower/RSC area into a more aesthetically pleasing quad in a few years.
I would have probably liked to see them relocate to another spot in NB (maybe somewhere in the Gateway building could have been a nice spot if planned when they designed it a few years ago), or a more centrally prominent location such as when they revamp the Brower/RSC area into a more aesthetically pleasing quad in a few years.
should have been in the gateway building. easy for alums to get to off the train.
Ultimately this is about what their business model is. Alums aren't going to take the train to NB just to go to the club. I like the idea of Gateway but maybe the reality of parking issues just made it less attractive. If they are primarily hosting events that might be a major problem. I wonder if they considered building it into the Welcome Center when that was being designed. Livingston seems odd but might be a great location in the end. Heck they will certainly get business on bball game days
Just a stupid, stupid move. So typical Rutgers. I would expect they'll have membership and rentals fall due to this.
Just shaking my head at this.
The Gateway building has its own connected parking deck. It's literally the other side of the building. How much more convenient can it get?
Guys, Lets not forget that the choice was never Gateway Building vs. Livingston. The choice was Gateway vs. Current Location, and then 5-7 years later, No Rutgers Club vs. Livingston. Hey - The Gateway idea could have been neat. but don't equate the two. Also- I probably have two meals there each semester- Do not under estimate the value of cheap/easy parking for this type of facility. I have often walked older alumni out to there car, and thank goodness their spots were right outside the building. Once again- the Gateway idea is intriguing, but that ship sailed a while ago.
Also, downtown New Brunswick streets are often congested. I think many suburbanites would prefer a different location. This shows how difficult it can be to revive downtowns.
Disagree. There are 4 constituencies for University clubs: Faculty/Staff, Current Students, Alumni, and Visiting guests.
- Faculty/Staff at Rutgers NB are spread out over multiple campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway. I don't know if, when leaving their home campus, they go to College Ave more often than other campuses. But I guess it doesn't matter where the club is located from a convenience perspective for faculty/staff. If the club is not on your home campus, it is probably inconvenient.
- Current Students, like faculty/staff, will find the Rutgers Club inconvenient if it is not located on the campus where they live. But I would guess that most students travel to College Ave on a fairly regular basis, since that is the hub of social life at Rutgers. Therefore College Ave would be the more convenient than other campuses for more students.
- Alumni visiting a university club are either doing so to reconnect to their college years or to impress a guest (which is the next bullet point). If they are looking to reconnect to their college years, they are more likely to want to be on College Ave, as that was the hub of college life for most alumni.
- Visiting guests are typically brought by either faculty/staff or alumni, as a way to impress the guest. A location on College Ave, especially near Old Queens, provides an opportunity to provide a positive impression of "This is Rutgers". The second floor of the Livingston Dining Commons does not provide that opportunity.
Maybe I worry about traffic patterns and convenient parking if I'm looking to open an Applebees. That's why there are more Applebees and Olive Gardens in Piscataway than New Brunswick. But the fact that there are many more upscale restaurants in New Brunswick than Piscataway suggests that for destination dining, those issues are not paramount.
Agree if your point is for having it at Gateway. Or in an even better spot on College Avenue.
But not so much if we're talking the current location.
Agree that the current location is somewhat lacking since it is a nondescript house on the far edge of campus. If you are going to put the club in a house, it would be better placed in one of the houses on College Ave between Hamilton and Somerset. Or better yet, build a place for the club in the proposed quad to be built where Brower Commons is now. (If the choice is still Livingston, I'd rather see the club incorporated into the new cultural center next to the State Theater and Mason Gross.)
Interesting points, and I wouldn't be surprised if they are valid. I wonder who the patrons of the club tend to be; I think, as you indicate, that's a crucial consideration. As for Applebee's versus upscale, I think that indicates that there has to be a *lot* of value to a restaurant for it to succeed in a congested area. So a lot depends on how good the Club is perceived to be by users.
After reading this thread (and especially the comment by Upstream) I can only come to the conclusion that this move is temporary and that they plan to move back to college age. It makes total sense to move the club out of the CAC, which will be going thru major changes. it wouldn't make sense to house the Club in a temporary location that would have to be expensively renovated and/or was slated to be redeveloped, especially if they had plans to incorporate the Club into the new quad/dining hall or other college ave project that wasn't finalized yet. It doesn't say in the article but it should be easy to find out. Is this move permanent or temporary; someone must know...
Or maybe someday the one on Livingston becomes a satellite for the "main" and "nicer" one on College Ave.
That would be nice.
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I don't know what the perception of the Rutgers Club is. I've only eaten there twice, both for catered parties, and both times I thought the atmosphere was lacking, and the food was decent, but not exceptional.
I can compare that to the Hopkins Club of many years ago (when I was last there) which was considered an upscale venue, competing with other upscale restaurants in Baltimore. During the day, it served an overpriced lunch and frequented mainly by faculty and administration looking for something more upscale or quieter than the campus cafeterias or venturing into the city. In the evenings or weekends, it was an exclusive venue where alumni would entertain guests.
As an undergrad, I was not allowed access to the Hopkins Club unless invited by a member. One of my professors would invite a handful of undergrads periodically, which is usually how I went there. I was also invited once by a dean, and once by the university president (who didn't show up, but I still got a free dinner, so I was happy).
Even permanent moves can be temporary. And sometimes temporary moves can seem permanent.
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