It’s time to get (a little) classier, CC.
Come one, come all to CC’s on-campus student bar, The Ninth Block. Instead of the normal Saturday night house party, try out some nice beers and cocktails in a place where you can actually have a conversation. It’s an October miracle!
The year was 1975; Gerald Ford was Commander in Chief, the Watergate Scandal was revealed, SNL aired its first episode, and Colorado College opened its first bar, Benjamin’s Basement.
Benny’s was located in the current Tiger Pit and served 3.2 beer, soft drinks, and snacks. In 1987, the Worner Campus Center was remodeled and, poof, CC’s on-campus student bar disappeared into the abyss.
However, last academic school year, alums Lee Carter, Ryan Patterson, and Luke Urban along with current seniors Bryce Daniels and Tyler Throne, reinvented the on-campus bar for a final project in an entrepreneurial economics class.
“We wanted a constructive place where kids could gather,” Urban told the Around the Block Blog last year. “There was a lot of support from the administration and the stuents. What we were hoping to do was create an alternative to the house party scene.”
With some solid Tiger spirit, hard work, and a lack of a social place for students to hang out and have a drink, these boys created the Ninth Block—located in La’au’s Taco Shop at the back end of the Spencer Building.
Daniels was the genius behind the name, which derives from the 19th hole in golf—commonly meaning a bar or clubhouse—as well as the fact that the original Block Plan had nine blocks in a year as opposed to eight.
This year, the Ninth Block will only be open on Saturdays from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. as opposed to Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays because of the workload and lack of patrons on weeknights.
Current CEO and HBIC Bryce Daniels said that they made the change from three nights to one to make “one night awesome as opposed to three okay nights.”
The Ninth Block is not only open to the 21 and over crew. Underage students are welcome to hang out and snack, but they can’t drink. IDs are checked at the door, and different wristbands are administered to the over-21 crowd and the underage patrons.
Because of its location in La’au’s, the bar serves late night munchies, including nachos and chips/salsa, which might not yield the same, horrific gastrointestinal results as 7/11 taquitos and Cheetos.
On the drinking side, there are two different kinds of Bristol beer—Red Rocket and Beehive—as well as a growing assortment of liquors, such as Jim Beam, Cruzan Rum, Beefeater Gin, Sobieski Vodka, and Cuervo Gold and Silver.
Last Saturday, during the Homecoming dance, senior bartender Nikki Kaufman made her own creation that she called “Princess and the Frog.”
It was delicious; Kaufman has the magic touch.
Senior history major as well as major heartthrob Keith Drury says that the Ninth Block has “great management.” The bar is completely student-run: managers, bartenders, and security. This gives students a great opportunity to not only make money but also gain experience in a business or restaurant.
All of the bartenders at the Ninth Block are bartender certified or have experience working in restaurants, and the bar deliberately does not serve shots to promote responsible drinking amongst the patrons of the bar.
The staff includes CEO Bryce Daniels, Marketing Director Samuel Brody, Nightly managers Tyler Throne and Nate Childs as well as Head Bartender Dan Eppstein, Nikki Kaufman, and Daniel Wright.
Many events are planned for this year, including a Día de los Muertos party on Nov. 3. They are trying to get as many bands and DJs as possible and to keep the bar “fun but not too rowdy.”
The Ninth Block has added a lot to CC on-campus life. Having a place where students can go chat over a drink is revolutionary.
Not a lot of house parties offer the opportunity to have a conversation with the person next to you over the blasting Gangam Style remix and the couple grinding up on each other.
The on-campus alternative: the Ninth Block.
Kiki Lenihan
Guest Writer