Although The Cove, an arcade at the Busch Campus Center, is undergoing some changes, fun and games will not necessarily become distant memories.
Busch Campus Center manager Kevin Killen said the game room that has been a fixture in the center for several years will become a student lounge similar to The Red Lion Café at the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus, minus a food vender.
The project is set for completion after the installation of Internet service, a projector and a few more pieces of furniture, he said.
“It’s going to be an open space for students … that will have wireless Internet access, where students can come relax, study, get some work done, etc.,” Killen said.
The project will cost an estimated $185,000, which will come from Student Life funds, said George Hefelle, associate director of Student Life Operations.
Student organizations and University departments will be able to reserve the new Cove for special events, unlike the arcade, Killen said.
After its transformation, The Cove will feature two coin-operated billiard tables and a screen, which will allow students to congregate and watch televised programs, he said.
The transformation is a result of student opinion of the arcade, Killen said.
Campus administrators issued a survey last spring to students of all campuses to determine whether or not students had a genuine interest in the arcade, he said. Results showed interest was waning and students thought the space could be better utilized.
“We really concentrated on what students had to say,” Killen said.
Busch campus resident David King said he supports the conversion of The Cove.
“I think that’s a fantastic idea,” said King, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore. “I think it will be a great place to study.”
King said he was not a frequent user of the arcade, and though he was somewhat bothered by the cost, overall he thinks the space could serve a different purpose.
“I think it will be a much better use of the area,” he said.
Busch campus resident Ankur Pahwa disagreed with King and said The Cove should remain a center for arcade games.
“I think people use [the arcade],” said Pahwa, a Rutgers Business School sophomore. “Last year, I lived on Livingston, and I used to come all the way over to Busch just to use the arcade there.”
Pahwa said campus administrators should focus more on providing students with wireless Internet capabilities in their dormitory rooms instead of in The Cove.
He said the University should invest the money in more dormitories, especially since a few of his friends live in hotel rooms or off-campus apartments due to lack of housing.
New study lounge replaces campus arcade
Published: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009
3 comments
Dr. CJ Pinzone
First the pubs, then the bowling alley, and now the last arcade on campus! What is the college all about? Studying?!?! Oi vay!
Webster
Can anyone spell vendor?
Kristine
Are you KIDDING me?! The entire Busch Campus Center is ONE BIG STUDY LOUNGE! There's no need to expand it for that reason. There are so many more useless or under developed places on campus. Why touch the arcade?I LOVE the arcade, and I have so many memories of playing games in there. Sometimes when my non-Rutgers friends came to visit I bring them there when we're bored and we just play games for hours.I'm so sad to see this part of Rutgers go.
