Armory Square, a district that because of its distance from the the Hill has prevented many from enjoying it, will get some new visitors starting today.

A Centro bus departing from College Place at 4 p.m. will serve as the maiden voyage for the Armory Square shuttle, a pet project of the Student Association, who will be footing the bill. As the home of entertainment venues such as Landmark Theater and informative stops such as the Museum of Science and Technology, SA President Andrew Thomson said he hopes the new service will allow students to expand their horizons and take in an area that until now proved difficult to get to without a car.

What he does not want to happen is for the shuttle to solely cater to some of the other popular Armory stops — the bustling bars.

“We hope that it will promote things other than drinking,” Thomson said.

The shuttle will run as a pilot program until the end of the semester, operating every weekend from 4 p.m. until 12:10 a.m., except for the weekends of March 3 and 10 because of Spring Break. As of now SA is putting up the $7,200 from its Operating Funds but hopes the university will pick up the tab as it did with the weekend shuttle that runs to the Carousel Center. Should the new project get the reputation of being a “Last Call Shuttle,” it would hurt the chances of it being paid for by the university, Thomson said.

If hours for the return shuttles were extended, it would make an excellent alternative to those who drive home drunk, bargoers said. Leah Tanner, a junior marketing major and Armory regular, said she thinks many at Armory go home drunk and about half of them would probably use the shuttle if run later.

“People drive drunk because when it is closing you just want to go home,” Tanner said.

Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Charles Merrihew, who would likely review any such proposal for university subsidization of the shuttle, said the most important factor will be the data SA compiles from surveys of users during the trial. He added that a push to extend the hours would not be rejected solely on the basis that it is related to drinking but would be examined carefully.

“If everyone who is saying that they want it to go until last call are freshman then it might be cause for concern,” Merrihew said. “But if it is seniors then it is a different story.”

He added that SA will have to prove that this is a service that students would really utilize since funding is not guaranteed.

“It is not necessarily something that we have funds lying around here for,” Merrihew said.

Looming over the project is the failure of the Marshall Street Bar Shuttle, a school bus that ferried students from the bars late at night. The project began in September 2001 and only lasted until the end of that semester since it became clear the project would not find another source to pick up its $11,000 price tag, Thomson said.

“It wasn’t feasible for SA to keep paying for it,” he said.

Some of the Armory-area bartenders agree that with the large student crowd that populates the area on Friday and Saturday nights, a shuttle to alleviate drunk driving would defiantly have no problems finding a niche. Kim Hinze, a five-year veteran bartender at Awful Al’s Whisky and Cigar Bar, said that with the last shuttle leaving relatively early it will miss a large group of people who could use it most.

“I feel a lot of people will use it later,” Hinze said. “At midnight people are just starting to have fun.”

She added that the current method of keeping people off the road after last call, making them call a cab, is many times a tricky proposition with inebriated clientele being less than cooperative. Even if the hours stay the same though, the taxi will still be a reliable recommendation.

“It really is not a lot of money,” she said. “It sure is cheaper than a DUI.”

Even if the bar scene is a main attraction now for Armory shuttles, the trial period should open eyes to new experiences, Thomson said.

“People are going to understand how much more the area has to offer,” he said.

With the recent police sweep of Konrad’s still fresh in mind along with the spectre of more to come, Thomson said he wants to curb the use of the shuttle as an easy alternative to the Marshall Street bars.

“I don’t want this to be a way for kids to get to bars that won’t get raided,” he said.

Published on February 13, 2003 at 12:00 pm