ASUCLA approves of new cafe in Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center

Associated Students UCLA will open a new cafe next year in a music center that is currently under construction attached to the Schoenberg Music Building.

Bob Williams, executive director of ASUCLA, said ASUCLA has committed to funding and building a cafe in the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center. The center will include recording facilities, mixing rooms and classrooms, in addition to the cafe, according to the UCLA Capital Programs website. Mo Ostin, a UCLA alumnus, donated $10 million in 2011 to fund half of the new center.

ASUCLA approved the funding of the cafe in January of 2012, said Cindy Bolton, food service director of ASUCLA. The university will pay for the infrastructure and ASUCLA’s estimated budget for the project is $200,000, which will be used to build the interior, Bolton said.

The cafe will be located on the ground floor of the music center and will consist of about 1,300 square feet of interior space, including 1,000 square feet for dining space and about 750 feet that may be used for outdoor patio dining, said Rebecca Kendall, a UCLA spokeswoman.

Early designs of the cafe include a reserved space for a performance area, which could be a draw for people, Kendall said.

Some students said they thought the money should be spent to improve existing eateries.

“The cafe could be more convenient for South Campus students, but I don’t think it’s really necessary,” said Spencer Uemura, a third-year psychobiology student.

Uemura, a former employee of Northern Lights in the North Campus Student Center, said he notices differences between the older and newer ASUCLA restaurants and thinks ASUCLA should instead use the money to renovate the older facilities.

ASUCLA has the right to accept or reject proposals from retail food services to do business on campus, Bolton said.

She said Capital Programs, which is affiliated with UCLA Facilities Management, approached ASUCLA in 2011 about running the cafe.

Bolton said ASUCLA evaluates each project individually. ASUCLA has in the past declined proposals for new eatery projects for financial reasons, such as Il Tramezzino in the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Sales at North Campus eateries have declined in recent years, the Daily Bruin reported earlier this month.

Though she does not expect the new cafe to cause a significant decrease in revenue at the ASUCLA eateries or coffeehouses, Bolton said sales at places like Kerckhoff Coffeehouse and the Court of Sciences Student Center could be slightly affected.

“In our initial financial analysis we definitely factored in any harm that this cafe could cause, but we found that moving forward with the project would be profitable,” Bolton said.

Construction for the new cafe is expected to begin in January 2014, after the completion of the music center. The cafe is expected to be finished by late spring or early summer of next year, Bolton said.