Café Zenith has been running at a loss since it started business in 2005. Now SiO wishes to close down the only social facility in the student village.

FOTO: Stéphane Lelarge

«Sit yourself down by the fire and treat yourself to a nice cup of coffee. Partake in a quiz night, see a good film, or follow an exciting football match on the big screen TV.»

This is how the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo (SiO) describes Zenith on its web pages. Kringsjå’s only pub and café was opened in 2005 after pressure from the Student Parliament. The housing area was given a facelift, but if Kringsjå was to become an attractive prospect, there had to be some nightlife on offer. This offer is now in danger of disappearing.

- Damages the living environment

Tonje Helle, Kringsjå resident and medical student, is disappointed with this.

- Zenith is all we have for entertainment here at Kringsjå, she states, and says that she likes to have a beer at the pub, or to partake in the quiz. She does not think that SiO has been good enough at marketing Zenith.

- It’s strange how few people know about the café, and SiO deserves criticism for this, because it’s a cool place. Lots of people think that it’s just a private party venue.

She is supported in this by medical students Arash Khandashpour Ghomi and Dag Olav Nilssen, who believe that Zenith has huge potential with low food and alcohol prices in Oslo’s largest student village. Ghomi thinks that it must be two or three years since they last marketed the place, and thinks that they should make a lot more out of the beginning of term.

Ella V. Brenden, student of Economics and Business Law at BI and resident assistant at Kringsjå, is also very skeptical of the plans to shut down the café.

- This is the biggest student village, but there is no place to be. Now we resident assistants can only arrange events outdoors when the weather is nice, she says.

Should make money

Chair of the Board at the Student Cafeterias, Inger Hegstad Krüger, defends the suggestion to shut down the café:

- Zenith is eating up the results of the Student Cafeterias, she says, and states that they have tried different tactics in order to increase visitor numbers, but to no avail.

- What kind of measures have been taken?

- There have been different menus, reduced beer prices, and a marketing campaign. We also tried to set Zenith up as a football pub during Champions League. We do not believe that there is a big enough market for this. The students want to go out in the city centre. The concept of being close to home has not caught on, she says.

Leader of the General Board of SiO, Egil Heinert, accepts that the café was in its time opened on the request of students, but does not think that its existence is viable.

- The question is whether one should spend 400 000 kroner on an offer that the students are not using, he says.

Heinert thinks that turning the pub venue into a Student Housing reception area is a good idea, as this means that the premises currently being used for the reception can be turned into housing units.

On Monday residents turned up at the Student Welfare Council meeting with 200 petition signatures. SiO received criticism from the benches for poor marketing and unstable management. The Student Welfare Council resolved to keep Zenith running, if necessary by a student organization.

The General Board of SiO will make a final decision on this case on the 10th of September.