By Emma Zaremba
Features Editor
The list of activities for students on weekday afternoons and weekends is far from endless. Few opportunities are available on campus and the Bona Bus’ Walmart/Allegany route doesn’t satisfy boredom for long. It’s time for Bonaventure to spice up the nightlife for its students.
The addition of a second Bona Bus, running from campus to North Union Street in Olean would be a worthy investment for the school, its students and local businesses.
The Bona Bus runs from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday through Friday and makes various stops around campus, into Allegany and in the Walmart/Carmike Cinemas plaza. The community that surrounds Bonaventure is small compared to other college towns in the area, but it still has more to offer than what the current bus route now illustrates.
North Union Street in downtown Olean is home to several restaurants and small shops including Beef and Barrel, El Mariachi, The Paper Factory and Attard’s. The addition of a second Bona Bus would not only provide students with more options to spend their free time, but it would also aid the merchants of North Union Street who are preparing for a major change.
This summer, the city of Olean is breaking ground on the “Walkable Olean” project. Scheduled to finish in December 2016, shop owners on North Union Street have to prepare themselves in attempt to maintain business through extreme construction conditions.
According to Walkable Olean, the project will rebuild crumbling water lines, sewer lines and lighting infrastructure, as well as restore the downtown area with traffic safety improvements and beautification investments. With $8.8 million, the town will reconstruct the street and look to improve the fortune of its merchants.
The project aims to make the street more appealing in addition to implementing safety updates; therefore it’s the optimal time to establish a relationship between Bonaventure students and North Union Street merchants.
Students, specifically those without cars, should have the ability to travel into Olean. Riding along the same route is tired and old. A second Bona Bus route would give students access to the numerous restaurants and shops that North Union Street has to offer. It would also help them stray from the usual dorm room/apartment hangout or the monotonous trips to Walmart.
Merchants would find this change equally beneficial. Retaining customers will be valuable during the construction process, for the construction will be so in depth that access to many storefronts will be limited. Such a lengthy project is expected to impact the welfare of North Union Street businesses, and implementing a second bus would help shop owners to keep up income.
If Bona’s students had the option of taking a bus to North Union Street, they would have a wider selection of ways to spend their time and the opportunity to make a difference in their community.
Emma Zaremba is the features editor for The Bona Venture. Her email is zarembek11@bonaventure.edu
