Many BCIT students wrapped up their last classes of the semester within the last couple weeks, celebrating by flocking to Habitat for a well-deserved beer. The campus pub is in a great location, tucked into SE2 across from the book store. This makes it easy for just about anyone on campus to access it.
Habitat has a great space, with plenty of room to host many students, and a number of TVs for watching sports as well. I was there recently for a Blue Jays game and was impressed that they had a projector showing the game. The food quality is also solid, albeit pretty typical pub fare. One of the coolest things about this place is the rotating craft beer lineup. Any time that I’ve visited, they’ve had different beers than the previous time I was there. One of the cooler ones I tried was a white IPA with mandarin collaboration from Field House and Four Winds.
Despite having a nice venue and food and drink offerings, Habitat falls short in many other areas. It seems like there are a lot of missed opportunities with this place, with next to no events throughout the year. They offer the odd karaoke night, but it seems like they could do quite a bit more. Would it kill them to offer a trivia night?
The following was a cool idea for a pub night. Only problem was it was back in 2018!
Do you like burgers and beer??? Of course you do!
EVOLUTION 1079 IS HOSTING A PUB NIGHT AT HABITAT ON APRIL 18TH FROM 5PM – 8PM.
Tickets available in the great hall until April 12th for $15 to get a burger and a beer!
50% of proceeds go to BCIT’s Student Emergency Fund! pic.twitter.com/SSZfJNm2a8— Evolution Storytelling (@evolution1079) April 10, 2018
The other weird thing with this place is they operate as if they’re an accounting office, as they’re only open until 5pm and closed on weekends. I get that they are scheduling their hours around when students are on campus, but it’s a missed opportunity to enhance the reputation of the place.
I went to university a decade ago at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, and the campus pub experience was a lot different. Their pub was open on weekends, and it was a spot that many students would go for a night out. It was similarly located inside of a main student life building, and had a similar vibe during the day as the Habitat has. Maybe it’s because BCIT is a smaller school, with more of a commuter student base? Either way, it seems like Habitat could put a bit more of an effort into improving the environment.
https://twitter.com/CrazyFrogBing/status/1654274760317206529
Finally, I think that school programs should utilize the venue for more get togethers and events in the future. Students will head there together at times, but you rarely see an entire program all there at the same time. I’m surprised there’s no end of year parties hosted there.
It all seems like a missed opportunity for Habitat to develop as a go-to hub for students to hang out together. I think that this campus lacks character, and the mediocre management of this pub doesn’t help at all. Hopefully come September, we’ll see more events and good vibes from this place.