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Amherst College seeks liquor license for campus pub

Amherst College seeks liquor license for campus pub

Daily Hampshire Gazette

By Scott Merzbach, Staff Writer

November 12, 2018

AMHERST — Amherst College could soon have an on-campus bar serving beer and wine to students 21 and over.

An all-alcohol license for the trustees of Amherst College, for use at Schwemm’s Pub at the Keefe Student Center, will be the subject of a hearing before the Select Board Tuesday.

The hearing begins at 7 p.m. at the Town Room at Town Hall.

Public notices were recently sent out to people who live near the campus and college-owned properties. In that notification, Joseph Flueckiger, director of dining services, explains the purpose of creating the pub.

“We are hoping that this pub will promote a culture of responsible drinking on our campus, amongst our students age 21 and older,” Flueckiger wrote.

College trustees approved seeking the liquor license in a Sept. 24 vote.

Amherst College spokeswoman Caroline Hanna said in an email that the college has been testing pub nights, and has been pleased with the response, with the hope that the pub would be open on a regular basis by the end of January.

“The intention is to create a space for students 21 and older to socialize, and responsibly and safely enjoy beer and wine,” Hanna said.

The Schwemm’s space is 971 square feet and includes 79 seats. The number of seats is the capacity for the bar.

The pub is seeking to be open Sundays through Wednesday from 5 p.m. to midnight and Thursdays through Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m, though Hanna said beer and wine service would be more limited.

All IDs of students and guests will be checked by staff, who will all be trained and certified to make sure no one underage is getting access to alcohol, she said.

Amherst College, as the Amherst Inn Company, holds one other liquor license, which it uses at the Lord Jeffery Inn and the 30Boltwood restaurant. The hotel will be renamed the Inn on Boltwood in early 2019 as the college continues to distance itself from the 18th century commander-in-chief of the British forces during the French and Indian War.

The town has a quota of 40 all-alcohol, on-premise licenses, with 32 already in use and eight available.

The change proposed for Schwemm’s comes on the heels of the college opening the Science Center Cafe inside the new science building, and like that cafe would be open to the larger community.

According to information submitted with its application, the college has spent only a small amount of money on changes to Schwemm’s, as the space is already built out. The expenses included $3,200 to purchase a kegerator with two taps and a glass-door cooler for storage of cans and bottles.