Spacious location found to house important campus services

Nicholas Mann

“[The bike centre’s] purpose is to give people the opportunity to not only build a bike at cost, but to assist them in learning how to repair and maintain their bikes.” Anastasia Zavarella

The CSA bike centre will be moving along with the CSA Foodbank. Photo by Megan Verhey.

Along with the many other changes that come with the onset of summer on campus, the University of Guelph Bike Center is going to be changing its location. The Bike Center and Foodbank are currently located in the basement of the Biology House at the corner of Gordon St. and Southring road. The move, which will come in early to mid August, is due to the scheduled demolition of the Biology House.  Although it is moving, the new location for the Bike Center is only a stones throw away from the old one. The new location for both the Bike center and Foodbank will be in the Federal Building located on Gordon Street across the street from the Edmund C. Bovey Building.

The Bike Center is a volunteer run center that is fully stocked with all the necessary tools, bike equipment, fluids, and know-how needed to build and repair bikes. The center is open to community members of all skill levels so that everyone from cycling neophytes beginners to racing enthusiasts can freely use the facilities. 

“The Bike Center is a facility open to University of Guelph students and also the Guelph community at large,” said Anastasia Zavarella, the local affairs commissioner for the Central Student Association. “Its purpose is to give people the opportunity to not only build a bike at cost, but to assist them in learning how to repair and maintain their bikes.”

The new location of the Federal Building is a more spacious and accessible location. The Bike Center and Foodbank will be sharing the space with the Aboriginal resource center who is the existing tenant. 

“The Federal Building’s accessibility and spaciousness is a positive feature of the new space,” said Zavarella. “Unfortunately the space is not perfect as the location’s washrooms are not accessible by mobility device.  The washroom location in the new location will be an issue although the current location is not only remote but has no paved road access.”

The future of the bike center under the supervision of Zavarella looks bright. It was a big part of her platform while running for the position of Local Affairs Commissioner and it continues to be a huge interest for her.

“The current plans for the Bike Centre are to continue to make it a more open and less intimidating environment for people to be in,” said Zavarella. “We are really excited to continue the women and trans night, and also make sure that women and trans feel completely comfortable [not only] during the woman and trans night, but at all times in the center. There are also plans to continue the workshops that help empower people from the community to use sustainable, environmentally friendly modes of transportation.”

The bike center will continue to function during reduced summer hours up the early to mid August move.