Vacant building that was once Bridge Cafe | Photo by Diana Jaber | The Wright State Guardian
In April 2020, Wright State University (WSU) announced that the Bridge Cafe on campus would be permanently closing due to the coronavirus pandemic. A year and a half later, Crawford Hoying and H20 Church are preparing to turn the old cafe into a student lounge.
Bridge Cafe
Bridge Cafe was a popular dining option near the Honors Community and Raider Mart for 15 years at WSU.
“Their smoothies were so amazing,” WSU senior public health major Katie Reed said. “I feel like I spent my first two years here blowing my entire meal plan on those.”
Shortly after WSU went remote due to the pandemic, Bridge Cafe announced via Facebook that it would be closing its doors indefinitely, with no plans to reopen through the 2020-2021 school year.
H20 Church
H20 Church is one of several Christian churches to gather on campus. According to their fall 2021 events calendar, many of their services are held in the Student Union while weekly group event meeting spaces vary.
“They often have group events and bonfires and classes that seem like they would be really fun to attend,” WSU sophomore computer science major Cal Kahoun said. “WSU offers a lot of opportunities for Christian students to meet people of similar beliefs and practice their religion in a safe and open environment.”
According to the H20 Church Sunday HC site, the church does weekly in-home smaller-scale church services and larger chapel services on a monthly basis.
The Landing
At the end of 2020, Crawford Hoying took over ownership of WSU housing properties and maintenance. Its work to try and boost residential rates on campus has included ongoing dorm amenity construction and a new clubhouse near the Village Apartments and the Woods dormitory halls.
Once Crawford Hoying came into ownership of WSU housing, H20 Church approached them with their idea on how to utilize the vacant space, calling it The Landing. The goal for the space is to use it to host events such as game nights, karaoke and video game events.
“I think it’ll be a really neat space to help bring people together,” WSU junior early childhood education and psychology major student Alex Drsek said. “I’m bummed I never got to experience the Bridge Cafe, but I definitely am excited to see The Landing when it opens.”
The Landing was set to open in mid-September. According to Katie Manning, property manager for Crawford Hoying, The Landing will be able to open later this week once the flooring is renovated.
