Students journeyed up the back steps of the East Campus Crowell Building to a loud, darkened room, where they clutched mugs of counter-culture coffee, sunk into whimsically mismatched furniture and found themselves so close to the band on stage that they could see sweat dripping down the drummer's wrist.
The Duke Coffeehouse christened its reopening Saturday with new features celebrating its old atmosphere, local bands and funky T-shirt decorating.
"The Coffeehouse has become more professional," said General Manager Andrea Marston, a senior. "The bar is bigger and drinks are better, but it hasn't lost its personality."
She added that the turnout was higher than expected and that the Coffeehouse received positive feedback.
Booking Manager Jen Fuh, a junior, said her goal was to get a variety of local bands back on the Coffeehouse stage.
Renovations that took place over the summer were meant to clean up the Coffeehouse so it could reach out to a broader cross-section of the student body, said senior Bryant Moquist, Duke University Union Executive Vice President. However, he said it was central that the Coffeehouse's unique role in campus life not be sacrificed for mass appeal.
"We wanted to keep the alternative vibe on campus," Moquist said.
Whether students basked in clean new decor inside the Coffeehouse or worked on custom wardrobe additions just beyond its door, they enjoyed local bands and large mugs of free coffee. Between acts, WXDU-DUU's radio station-catered to the music tastes of its alternative crowd.
Senior Angela McCrory, an employee of the Coffeehouse who painted one of the new murals, said she was pleased by the fervor students brought to T-shirt decoration. An eclectic bunch of supplies provided by The Scrap Exchange littered tables outside the Coffeehouse, and spray paint and stencils waited in the parking lot.
Some regular patrons said the reopening events attracted many new faces.
"I've seen people and had no idea who they are," Fuh noted. "It's really different, because I'm so used to the space being really tight-knit."
Coffeehouse employee Sarah Hamerman, a sophomore, and Marketing Manager Babylonia Aivaz, a senior, also said they saw people with whom they weren't familiar.
"People kept saying stuff like, 'Wow, this place is so cool. I never knew it existed. I'm coming here all the time now,'" Aivaz wrote in an e-mail.
The Coffeehouse made a positive impression on newcomer Megan Morikawa, a freshman.
"It's got a nice atmosphere," she said. "I think I would definitely come back in the future."
The reopening marked an exciting day for Coffeehouse committees, employees, veteran patrons and first-timers as alternative culture's campus haven reasserted itself.
"I couldn't contain my emotions at the beauty of the environment," Aivaz said.
DUU President Chamindra Goonewardene, a senior, thought the hours many people spent on the Coffeehouse were worth the time, effort, and, as Aivaz said, increased risk of cancer from months of inhaling paint fumes.
"Renovations [are the] best thing that could have ever happened," Aivaz said. "I look at renovations like an EKG machine and the Coffeehouse like a heart, and then I sing Don Johnson's ['Heartbeat']. Coffeehouse is beating again."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.