The Nest at NAIT will have new extended hours starting Nov. 1. The campus bar originally closed at 3 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, but will now be open until 6 p.m. to align with their Wednesday to Friday hours.
Michelle Dirksen, general manager, says the change is to provide NAIT students with some consistency. “There’ll be no question of like, ‘Is the Nest open? Is it not?’ It’s Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” said Dirksen.
According to Dirksen, the hours extension was brought up recently by some of the Nest’s staff, who are also students.
“They brought to our attention that, you know, as evening students, sometimes they miss out on the opportunity to come to the Nest,” she said. “So this gives them an opportunity to do that for an additional two days.”
The change also allows the Nest to keep up with inquiries that extend beyond Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Now there’s more opportunity to accommodate those requests, Dirksen explained.
“And that will better support student groups, campus departments, clubs and events that take place on Mondays and Tuesdays that we weren’t able in the past to accommodate,” she said.
Dirksen said the Nest’s part-time staff are excited to have more shifts, and that the campus bar is “thrilled” to be able to offer extended hours after a carbon-monoxide related closure earlier in the semester.
“We were concerned that being closed for the first two, three weeks of the campus season that people would have built habits and gone elsewhere and whatnot. We understand that.”
So, the Nest held an influencer event to help promote the re-opening — along with new menu items like a sweet and spicy Korean gochuchang sauce and a pulled pork BBQ sandwich made with slow-roasted pork shoulder.
Dirksen said she doesn’t expect the new hours to take off right away, but hopes it will help build awareness around the award-winning campus bar.
“We just really want to make the Nest more accessible … to everyone on campus, especially our evening students.”
Students can visit the Nest at S110 near the ice rink. The Nest is open Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Feature image by Mathieu Durnford/The Nugget
This article was originally published in our Nov. 4 print issue. Read it here.
