School’s back from summer: Marianopolis students attend new campus

The general consensus is that the relocation of the college to the corner of Westmount and Claremont Avenues will bring extra business to the neighbourhood. However, there are also vague fears about how the influx of college-aged students might impact the community.

At this point in time it is difficult to know if students will explore the surrounding neighbourhood. Marianopolis spokesperson Elizabeth Hirst said that there is a cafeteria on campus but that the college “can’t predict what the students will do. There certainly are plenty of attractive places for them to go nearby.” From cafés to clothing shops, Sherbrooke Street west offers a great deal of appeal for students on break or socializing after classes.

Sarah Tarshis is a Marianopolis alumnus and said that she and her friends would often leave the old campus for coffees and meals. “It depends if the students want to walk down the hill,” Tarshis said.

The Second Cup at the corner of Claremont and Sherbrooke expects students to do just that. Manager Patrick Dubois has hired extra employees and is training staff members to be more efficient during rushes. “We’ll be brewing double batches of coffee at peak hours,” Dubois said. He knows how students love their coffee and is pleased at the prospect of new patrons.

Residents living close to Marianopolis are more anxious than excited about the college opening. They have already been dealing with daylong construction both on the college campus and at street corners, where street signs are being replaced and new signalizations installed.

Living on Westmount Avenue just across the street from Marianopolis, Monty Newborn says there are both positives and negatives to the new location of the college. He believes that having an educational institution in the vicinity will certainly be beneficial while the increased commotion in the neighbourhood could be a drawback. When asked about the general feeling of his neighbours, Newborn said, “One word – dread.”

But Newborn explained that the dread was not actually based on the school’s opening but instead upon its unknown effects soon to be seen. In the coming weeks, the community will get a clearer idea of the college’s impact on Westmount.