Chaus closes due to water leak, ‘tentatively hoping’ to reopen Dec. 5

By Belinda Zhu     12/3/24 11:40pm

Rice Coffeehouse is closed indefinitely due to water leaks in the building that occurred over Thanksgiving break. Chaus announced its closure in a Dec. 1 Instagram post, citing “unseen circumstances.” Although no official date has been announced, Chaus is aiming for a Dec. 5 reopening, said both Alysa Bijl-Spiro, Chaus’ general manager, and Caitlin Lindsay, Director of Student Center Operations.

“We found out on Sunday morning that there was a significant water leak in the ceiling of Coffeehouse which drenched the space behind the bar,” Lindsay wrote in an email to the Thresher. “We had to wait for everything to dry out to see which equipment was still working and for Facilities & Capital Planning to inspect the space before we’d be able to reopen.”

Bijl-Spiro said Lindsay alerted Chaus management to the leak, and collectively decided to close the area for a few days to assess the damage.

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MBA student Aryaman Agrawal said that he did not expect Chaus to be closed. 

“[A manager] told me that they had closed and could not tell me the reason. They could not tell me when they would reopen, either, which was quite disappointing for me because this is the only place I usually get my coffee from.”

Brown College junior Gabriel Ong also expressed disappointment.

“It is definitely a blow to the Rice campus community,” Ong said. “I usually go study at Chaus after dinner, but now I have to go somewhere else which is a pain. It is also tough because other places like Local Foods and Dandelion Cafe have more expensive coffee.”

Lindsay said that they are hoping to reopen by Thursday. 

“Facilities were able to stop the leak on Sunday and then had their electricians, [and] plumbers out on Monday to assess the space,” Lindsay wrote. “We’ve been working with OIT to repair the networking so that the credit card readers will work ... We are tentatively hoping to reopen on Thursday.”

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