Shelly Pruitt, manager of The Buzz, starts her day the same way she has for 15 years.
At 8 a.m., she sits in her office to plan the busy day ahead for the Erb Memorial Union’s basement cafe. Recently, she’s added a different task to her morning routine.
“It finally hit me that The Buzz is going to close down when I started to clean out the office,” Pruitt said.
The Buzz and Fishbowl Cafe are next on the EMU’s chopping block. The two cafes, in addition to The Buzz’s neighbor, the Union Market, will close its doors later this month because of the building’s renovations.
“Students are what kept me going,” Pruitt said. “I got to stay connected to some students who graduated and went out doing great things. It’s like I’m watching them growing up.”
Both of the cafes belong to the university, and the profits feed back into the EMU operation.
Just one floor above The Buzz, in one of the UO’s most iconic spots, the Fishbowl, another cafe manager is saying farewell, too.
K’Lynn Parker is the manager for the Fishbowl Cafe. In her parting letter, she referred to the cafe’s staff as her “kids,” and said they were her motivation and inspiration. It has been sitting on the countertop since she left it there three weeks ago.
“I had one of the meetings with the ASUO at the Fishbowl,” UO student Azia Calderhead said. “It’s a fun and lively place for students to meet.”
Like a lot of campus hangout spots, it’s the environment that keeps people coming back.
“It became a student’s living room,” said Pruitt. “But professors can also come and sit among their students. It’s a welcoming environment. We’ve got a number of science professors who come here at a certain time in the day — they know when the pastries are 50 percent off.”
The Buzz and the Union Market will hold parties on the day they close, March 13, followed by the Fishbowl Cafe on March 20.
Chipotle will be in place of the Fishbowl Cafe in fall 2015, while Falling Sky Brewery will replace the Buzz in fall 2016.
“I believe the Falling Sky Brewery is going to be a huge benefit, a huge draw for the new EMU,” Pruitt said. “I think what the future holds will be something really, really spectacular.”
Also on the chopping block? The EMU’s food service. Say goodbye to Panda Express. Food won’t be served in the building until next year. But in the meantime, the university has approved Subway and Joe’s Burgers, a Portland-based hamburger establishment, to run on wheels. Two new food trucks are also coming to 13th avenue next term.
“It’s an end of era,” EMU Director Laurie Woodward said.