OT: Bye Bye Bombshelter
by Achilles on Mar 6, 2009 12:27 PM PST
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PrintThis fan post will mean something to the alumni who read this blog.
The Bombshelter is closing down.
You remember the Bombshelter, right?
It is the subterranean eatery located in the South Campus. (For you non-alumni, south campus is primarily where the science, math and engineering students congregate and north campus is where the humanities, economics, and English-major types hang outs. In short: North = cool kids, South = nerds. ... j/k .... sort of)
The Bombshelter was where generations of future engineers, mathematicians, doctors and scientists ate their burgers ... along with some poli sci majors who had to venture south to fulfill a GE requirement.
The popular campus burger joint known as the Bombshelter will see its bunker-thick concrete walls put to the ultimate test this winter: demolition.
A replacement South Campus Student Center (SCSC), planned for completion in March or April of 2011, will expand upon the Bombshelter's current location in the Court of Sciences, in front of the California Nanosystems Institute. The SCSC will provide four food stations and outdoor seating just like the Bombshelter, while adding indoor seating, an academic supplies store and, possibly, a coffee cart. It will also offer longer hours and green features like a walkable, landscaped roof, according to the Associated Students of UCLA (ASUCLA) and Capital Programs, which oversees major campus construction.
The new Student Center will be able to serve more people than the old one, while the addition of indoor seating and the rooftop terrace will create a more welcoming gathering place, said Cindy Bolton, ASUCLA's food service director.
"This new center will create a central spot for students and faculty in the South Campus," Bolton said. "The existing Bombshelter was built approximately 40 years ago, but it is currently very outdated, and we have limited capacity in what food we can produce and how many customers we can serve.
"Additionally, the South Campus lacks any cohesive study and social space, and the population in this area is expanding with the recent addition of several new buildings at the southern end of the Court of Sciences," Bolton added. "This project will inject new life into the Court of Sciences."
Here is the artist rendering:
via today.ucla.edu
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.
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Nerd Pride!
Go South Campus!
But seriously, it will be sad to see it go. I can’t say that it isn’t overdue though, especially with the nanotech and that other building that I don’t know the function of springing up right next to it.
RIP Bombshelter :-(
Besides, there’s the unwritten law of UCLA to consider: Something must be under construction at all times.
Truth is ...
I wasn’t smart enough to be a south campus student.
I was barely smart enough to eat in the Bombshelter.
And, you are right about the construction.
I was on campus recently and the Cooperage is basically gone, replaced by a generic lunch room with a big tv and a Carl’s Jr being built.
They are building a new room with an arcade and pool tables and a stage (remember, there was a stage in the Coop) for music or whatever.
I drove around and there is construction everywhere.
At Sunset Rec, they are building an aquatic center, for example.
And just wait until they start to renovate Pauley Pavilion.
It’s mostly all good. The new facilities are nice.
Personally, I liked the old ASUCLA eating spots, I never really needed the fast food chains like they have now (Taco Bell, Jamba Juice, Rubio’s, Sbarro’s, Panda Express). But I don’t get to campus much, so it’s not a big deal to me.
In 2011, I’ll meet you at the new Bombshelter and buy you a burger.
Go Bruins
I don't know about smart
I do know that the primary requirement to be a south campus student was an indefinable academic masochism.
The Coop being torn out started early last year IIRC. The new aquatic center should be great. If anything it should be a replacement for the two other pools closer to the center of campus because having worked there, those are inferior facilities. Sunset rec will probably remain the first option for sunbathing students and the new pool should ease the congestion for the water polo/swim/diving teams.
Sunset Rec ...
I remember going to Sunset Rec as a student during spring quarter on a hot day.
Holy crap … it really was an incredible array of very beautiful girls, sunbathing and studying.
It was a good place to relax and a terrible place to get any work done.
Go Bruins
Studying With Real-Live Females @ Sunset Rec
That and the first time I walked into Pauley completely undid a two-week recruiting visit to the USNA .
_now_ building an arcade?
I spent many a quarter in the arcade just off the hall leading to the Coop when I was there.
They made the new arcade smaller and moved it across the hall
The Coop REALLY looks different now… I miss the old Coop… felt like a homey bar. The new one feels a little too sterile, and it’s been replaced only by a Carl’s Jr. New TVs are nice though.
NOOOO!!!
That structure was a testament to the character of us South Campus exiles. All substance, no style. While the North Campus had their fancy coffee shops and sculpture gardens, we had this austere environment so as to not be distracted in our academic endeavors by things like landscaping, hot babes, art, and, uh, hot babes.
I know Nestor will join me in shedding a tear…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
LOL ...
I neglected to mention the girls.
From a hot chick standpoint, South Campus was Cal, North Campus was a cross between Arizona State, San Diego State and Hooters.
Go Bruins
Dude
don’t rub it in.
I had a couple of classes in North Campus, and each time I had to trek there from the Botany building, arrive late and dissheveled looking like an idiot savant. The only C I ever got in my career, ever, was in that North Campus class. Had the hots for a babe (a swimmer), totally zapped my brainpower, Costanza-style.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I'll tell you something funny ...
back in the day, the hottest girls in south campus were studying in the medical school library.
I kid you not, you’d have these gorgeous Sociology majors hanging in the medical school library.
Why?
That’s where the future doctors hung out.
They used to call it (and maybe they still do) “studying for your MRS”
Go Bruins
That's true...
…and they are all smart and artistic as hell.
At least one North Camper will have to stand against all this South Campus love fest!
Victory or until next year!
Sad but true...
During my time in south campus, I could always tell when somebody was a north campus person because they always looked lost, and if it was a girl, she was hot.
For some reason, hot girls and engineering didn’t mix.
It wasn’t until my 3rd year, when I made north campus friends, that I realized I was missing out on sooooo much fun at UCLA. Damn engineering classes!!!
The only good things about south campus was that I could get a teriyaki chicken bowl at the bomb shelter for $1.50, and the Cafe by the SEAS in the back of Boelter.
Ah, Yes
As a geezer whose major went from Eng. to Math/Comp Sci to Panting/Sculpture/Graphic Arts, I well remember the upgrade in scenery along the way. BTW, when you all refer to North Campus, are you including all the Humanities buildings or just the Fine Arts part north of Bunche?
You majored in panting?
What was the cirriculum for that?
by Gen2Bruin1987 on Mar 9, 2009 1:39 PM PDT up reply actions
Doesn't sound very strenuous.
So what caused all the PANTING?
by Gen2Bruin1987 on Mar 10, 2009 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh I see--I made a typo
But I’ll take the bait. All the panting was for the hot babes from the Dance Dept who made extra bucks modelling nude for the art classes.
It sure beat my earlier Engineering classes by a long margin.
I had ...
you pegged as a North Campus guy.
I guess you never really know someone until they’ve told you what part of campus they hung around in.
Go Bruins
LOL ...
I remember a mass exodus from South to North took place every year after the Chem 11A final.
I bet Chem 11A doesn’t even exist anymore.
Go Bruins
I went through the whole Chem 11 series
It was after Chem 132A I decided I had enough of not being to able to go out on pint nights.
LOL ...
I’m very impressed.
And the blogosphere is better for it.
If you’d gotten an A in Chem 132A you’d probably be in a lab somewhere, instead of doing the Lord’s work here on Bruins Nation.
Go Bruins
Grades were fine
It was the idea of spending 8 hours in lab for Chem 132 B and 132BL (I think the labs classes were labeled BL) that were the deal killers.
All my buddies were north campus majors and it was pretty clear what I was missing out on every week. The best decision of my life!
TRAITOR!
You left us down there to suffer and didn’t say a word! Meanwhile I had to take friggin’ #$# Plant Physiology to graduate. Sigh…
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
That's too bad
They pretty much went away for me after first year. Still, one year dealing with people at parties that can’t wait to tell you what happens to your body biologically when you get a hangover is enough for me. It is a common misconception that engineers are the most boring group on campus. Pre-meds are worse.
If you want boring, you gotta have law students
And the only thing more boring than law students is lawyers. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard someone say “That reminds me of a case I had” I would not have to worry about the economy. (Of course, many of those “that reminds me of a case” comments are mine.")
Either you went to the wrong law school, fox, or I went to the right one
Guessing that the latter is more likely than the former.
I think it's the 14 series now
There’s also the 20 series which I took. I still don’t understand why they have to have two intro series. It’s like how math had the 30 series and the 3 series and the only difference was that they crammed all the engineering and math majors into the 30 classes.
even though South Campus classes were no fun
I still think it was pretty damn cool that Professor Luceigh would often do her lectures out on the lawn. The kids in East Coast can only dream about something like that taking place in March.
Maybe to ramp up competition?
I remember Math 30 series and Chem 20A were intense. I also decided to switch from South to North campus, but I only lasted in South campus for one quarter…
they had rice bowls in the Bombshelter?
I got hooked on the $1.50 rice bowls at the North Campus Student Center – usually just called North Campus. Yum! I didn’t know I could have gotten them at the Bombshelter in my rare forays to south campus.
Ah, the rice bowl...
The teriyaki chicken rice bowl with a ladel full of teriyaki sauce poured all over the chicken and rice and only cost a few bucks. I would purposely time my study breaks from my office in Kerckhoff to venture down to the Bombshelter right before closing to get the hook up on the rice bowl. Usually, they served huge portions before closing when there wasn’t a rush. I loved being a South Campus major and buying my grub at this spot. Not too crowded like the Coop and had some definite food gems like the rice bowl. Talk about comfort food after the brutal midterms and finals of O Chem and Biochem.
by Kerckhoff405 on Mar 9, 2009 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions
Hey us North Campus there would venture to South Campus
One of my Poli Sci classes was in LS. I HATED HATED HATED that walk.
And I had a sociology discussion in Hershey, so I had to kinda cut through South Campus to get to Hershey.
While we're on the subject ...
did any other old timers know they moved Kinsey Hall?
I mean, the building that used to be called “Kinsey” is now called “Humanities”.
And “Kinsey” is now the classroom part of a south campus building. That’s why I was on campus, to sit in on a lecture in Kinsey 1200B. Which is not in the Kinsey Hall that I remember.
I actually had to check a campus map.
Go Bruins
Near the inverted fountain?
I know there was a set of rooms a lot of people (including many South Campus vets) could never find that was actually located near the Physics and Astronomy building, the Psych building, underneath the Physics building.
I had a class in Kinsey Hall freshman year during the last quarter before they renovated it.
Moved Kinsey?
Like the way they moved Bunche Hall?
This thread is killing me – so many great memories of all these places. When I didn’t have a couple hours to justify hiking down and up Bruin Walk to get back to Sunset Rec for some quality “studying” (i.e playing volleyball and girl-watching) between classes, I took a lot of naps on the Inverted Fountain and got a lot of snacks at the Bombshelter.
Since I only get back to campus every few years or so, it’s always a little bittersweet, because with the perpetual construction, I never get to say goodbye to some of my favorite places within my absolute favorite place of all time.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
Wow
Never has the generation gap felt as wide.
I don’t think I was ever at the Bomb Shelter, and I know I never heard of a place called that. We ate lunch at the Coop and had a burger basket. But I know the pain of the destruction of an iconic place. For a long time I had a piece of a brick from Mom’s.
One bit of geezerdom. I used to drive from Lynwood all the way down Imperial to the 405 (there was no Santa Monica Freeway or if there was, it was still in the throes of construction) and then off at Montana, and park on Veteran. I then got my bike off the home-made bike rack my dad made (there were no store-bought bike racks for cars) and ride up Strathmore to school. There was no Pauley. One of the old bungalows where Pauley and Spaulding are now was easily the oldest, most decrepit looking building on campus. And what was in that building, you ask? Why what else — the Archeology Department.
Last vignette on my home made bike rack – I got stopped by the Lynwood PD because they assumed I was stealing a bike. They knew my dad, who worked for the City, and eventually recognized the aluminum he used to build the rack as the door handles from the old City Hall, which he helped tear down. With that impeccable evidence, they had to let me go.
I symbolically join my tears to yours at the passing of a building (or is it an area?) full of memories, even though I don’t share any of them.
Bomb Shelter You will be missed!
Sharing my bit of Geezerdom, When I came to UCLA I dormed at Myra Heshey Hall! On Hillgard across the street from Sorority Row. Me and my dorm mates made it a hobby of “bird watching” from our dorm windows as all the beautiful Sorority sister walked by on the way to class. Olympic Gold Medal winner Kerri Strug used to take that hike all the time. What does this have to do with the Bomb Shelter?
Our dorms were conveniently located on South Campus by the schools of engineering and of course The Bomb Shelter! It was a natural place for us to end up whether we were there to eat or just get out of the dorms and study. I’m one of those rare Bruins that has fond memories of both South and North Campus.
A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden
How long were you at Hershey?
I could have been one of those birds. Kerri Strug was in Theta.
I think I maybe ate at the Bombshelter twice. I was North Campus, so I mostly ate at Luval Commons, the Coop, or Taco Bell. In fact, it took me a long time before I could eat Taco Bell after I graduated.
by bruinbabe2000 on Mar 7, 2009 3:59 PM PST up reply actions
Here's how bad it was
I was so engrossed with being at South Campus that I didn’t even know what LuValle was until my 3rd year there.
Wow!
I am a new grad, Dec. ’08.
Even though I am a north campus guy, English Lit., I remember my first quarter at UCLA. I enrolled in Philos 100A (Greek Philosophy) class. Side note: it was my worst quarter, GPA wise, and I partly blame my Philosophy class. The class was held at one of those huge rooms in the Geology building. I can count by hand the number of times I’ve spent in there. Though I may not have the same affinity like my south campus counterparts, I will miss it nonetheless. Let’s put it this way, I didn’t visit the place for the viewing please – it was for pure gastro-satisfaction.
I like how you can tell by the crowd and geography whether you’re in north or south campus. I definitely enjoyed being outnumbered in most of the classes I took. I often wondered if per capita the 90095 and 90024 zip codes have some of the hottest people in California, heck, the world! I am sure it’ll be competitive.
Oh No!
First Buck fifties (Roll Inn), now this; there’s just nothing to believe in anymore! My first job at UCLA was at the Bombshelter. Then to the annual fund (you can’t say that you were a UCLA student unless you served at least a week at the annual fund!), and finally finished up at the Wooden Center. Memories!
Not a buck fifty fan
I only went there a few times and every time I went, my turkey sandwich consisted of one thin slice of turkey, a head of lettuce, a tomato and a cucumber. There was so much lettuce, tomato and cucumbers that it seemed that I was having a salad sandwich and not a turkey sandwich.
But what did I expect for $1.50! However, my girlfriend, now wife, loved it because she was and still is a vegetarian and it was the cheapest place in westwood.
WOAH
That is really all I can say.
I live out of state and am a junior in HS, and have realized from reading these comments that if I could choose anywhere for college it would be this kick-ass school! I also realize,however, that if you are in that very small out-of-state percentile, you basically have to be a genius :( I am not a genius and don’t take all AP courses,etc. But I still do have a 3.9 on a 4.0 grade scale and am very involved with school/community. I can only pray that school that god gave us lets me in. (fingers crossed)
by harveyismyboy on Mar 7, 2009 3:09 PM PST up reply actions
Best of luck
I’m hoping to transfer in for next fall. Hopefully we can both stand with the Den in the fall of 2010.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Mar 7, 2009 3:13 PM PST up reply actions
You're lucky though
They will begin accepting more out of state because of the budget deficits. I came in from out of state myself and my 4 point GPA wasn’t as high as yours. My SAT was pretty good though. I’m almost certain that’s how I got in despite what they say about not trusting it.
Best of Luck,
and don’t worry too much about that out of state percentile. I agree with Ty, I think the SAT’s carry more weight than they generally admit, at least with us “out-of-staters.”
Love My Bruins
how come nobody has mentioned
Diddy Riese yet? Buck Fifty and then 3 cookies for a buck…the perfect meal. Even better than ramen!
Price went up right after I graduated in '04, iirc.
At least the price of an ice cream sandwich remained the same.
Diddy Reese
Yeah, it was almost mandatory to stop by there to pick up 4 cookies for a buck for roommates on the way back from the Village. I always wondered how that place did it and assumed they must be some mafia front or something.
greg in denver - UCLA guy for life
I don't even like cookies most of the time
But Diddy Riese cookies are not cookies. They are addiction incarnate.
This demands a subtopic:
Favorite Diddy Riese cookie.
Mine is White Chocolate Chip with regular chocolate chip a close second.
Reverse those, and you have my favs
Of course, the only thing better than Diddy Riese cookies are Diddy Riese cookies with ice cream in the middle :) Which demands an expansion of the subtopic to include favorite sandwich combination.
Mine is one White Chocolate Chip, one Chocolate Chip, with Espresso Chip ice cream in the middle.
Tommy's chili fries
At 2am, post-drinking…priceless.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
Buck fifties
I practically lived off of that my junior year. Mr. BB lived on Midvale, so on the weekends, I would walk from the KD house, pick up lunch, then head up to his place.
by bruinbabe2000 on Mar 7, 2009 4:01 PM PST up reply actions
Well, just for the record, you didn't learn that from me
That’s secret stuff. I’ve never even told that stuff to Mr. BB.
by bruinbabe2000 on Mar 8, 2009 6:40 AM PST up reply actions
very cool memories
as an engineer, i spent plenty o’ money at the bomb shelter. My wife was a north campus girl. Still remember the bowling alley and snooker table in Ackerman.
I Was
one of those lost-looking poli-sci students, venturing down there for GE requirements—Astronomy and a Geology class on earthquakes. The Bombshelter always seemed so much more serious—studious, I guess—than common areas on North campus. (After all, this was where the actual geniuses hung out.) I remember thinking, “Leave it to the engineers to take a fountain and turn it upside-down.” My friends all called it The Toilet Bowl. It was a great place to sit in the sun and think.
I also had a sociology class down there called “Women In Antiquity.” We had to listen to “Hungry Like A Wolf” and analyze the gender-role issues of the lyrics in that class.
Love My Bruins
The nicest setting
I was a mid-campus guy, classes around Royce Hall Quad, and then I worked at Powell for eight years, so I got to sample both ends of campus, and I always enjoyed wandering down to the Bomb Shelter for lunch amidst the trees. The other places always seemed so much more crowded, maybe because the engineering students studied more. My North Campus pleasure was spending lunch hour in the sculpture garden surrounded by all those pulchritudinous art students.
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