It was with heavy hearts that the OUSA exec passed a motion (with one vote against) on Friday, August 11, to cancel the Starters Bar lease.
You’ll probably be thinking, “But I thought that closed ages ago?” And you’d be right - the bar has sat stagnant on the corner of Frederick and Clyde St since its closure in 2021 due to health and safety concerns about the standards of the building.
OUSA President Quintin told Critic Te Ārohi that the two-year gap was spent working out “if the building could be improved to a standard that would make it safe to once again operate as a bar.” At an exec meeting earlier this year, a motion to terminate the lease failed pending a final conversation with the landlord about whether it could be saved. “Since then, it has become clear that the Starters premise… will not be able to become suitable for a bar again,” said Quintin.
The bar was bought in 2018 by OUSA. It was celebrated for bringing about a space for students to drink responsibly amid the context of bar closures like Gardies (now the Marsh Study Centre) creating a “wild west of drinking,” as OUSA Events Manager Jason told Critic at the time.
In the brief window when OUSA operated Starters, “it functioned as a great place for students to enjoy affordable drinks and music in a safe environment,” said Quintin. “The executive at the time were gutted to be put in a position of making the decision to close,” with the 2021 President Michaela telling Critic about the sleepless nights she’d had over the issue. “But unfortunately they were left with little other choice.”
Critic reported in 2021 that the exec said they were “hopeful that a replacement bar in North Dunedin will be up and running by O-Week 2022.” That clearly worked out well.
“OUSA has always wanted to open a student bar for the purposes of harm reduction,” said Quintin. In the “wild west” of drinking culture in its absence, students tend to stick to flats where it becomes easier to drink to excess without the kind of support that comes with a licensed premise.
Quintin went on to say that, “As a Sophia Charter Partner, OUSA is committed to ensuring that North Dunedin is a safe environment for students to engage in the things that make Dunedin student culture so unique and we believe a bar is one of the best ways we can achieve this.”
With the cancellation of the lease, the exec are hopeful that they’ll be able to approach the issue with a “fresh set of eyes, moving away from always thinking about how we can reopen Starters,” which had become a bit like “flogging a dead horse” as one exec member said in a meeting earlier this year.
The one vote against the motion came from Vice President Imogen, who said she felt duty-bound to advocate for a student bar since it was what she campaigned for going into the position: “I agreed that it’s not the bar we want for our students… but at the end of the day I don’t think we explored all the options with it.” For Quintin, he sees it as an opportunity for something “newer and better.”
As a plus, they’re planning a garage sale for a bunch of the old bar stuff like bar stools “if you’re looking to kit out your flat for kickons in 2024.” We call dibs on the sign, and also one of the beer towers.