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The new academic year began without the Coffee House, as construction crews hurried to finish an $8 million renovation and expansion.

The contractor and subcontractors worked through the weekend, but still needed this week to finish up, said Sharon Coulson, Coffee House director. She had hoped for an opening date of Sept. 23 (the first day of instruction) or shortly thereafter.

Even after the construction work is finished, hopefully today (Sept. 24), Coulson and other veteran managers need at least five days to train hundreds of new CoHo employees at their work stations.

So, for now, Coulson is estimating an opening date in the first week of October. She is asking the campus community to hang in there with her and her crew — and promises that the wait will be well worth it.

The main serving room (now called the Marketplace) features a new, semicircular layout with a more convenient entryway and a streamlined exit through a new cash register area that leads directly into the dining rooms on the south side of the Memorial Union.

The “notch” on the MU’s south side is inside now, instead of outside. Here you will find Swirlz, for coffee, baked goods, fruit smoothies and frozen yogurt.

Swirlz is but one of the new names you will see in the new Coffee House. The others are Fickle Pickle (deli), TxMx (Tex-Mex grill), Cooks (hot food line with “homestyle favorites”), Ciao (pizza and pasta), Croutons (salads) and Chopstixx (pho and sushi).

The CoHo shut down more than a year ago for the renovation project. It is the CoHo's first overhaul since 1990 when the �ٺ���Ƶ culinary institution moved in to the MU’s west side.

Coulson has been director since 1983, when the CoHo occupied the MU's east wing. When she started, the CoHo served some 2,000 people a day; at the time of the closure last year, the number exceeded 7,000.

With that many people coming through, time had taken its toll on the facility, Coulson said. So, in 2004, the student body voted for the renovation, agreeing to add $8 a quarter to student fees to pay for the project.

Earlier coverage: (July 17, 2009)