Bolzano. Closed and with a couple of sad vending machines: this is how Unibar, the bar at the University of Bolzano, has appeared for nine months, since the concession to Mr. Tiziano Alberti, who had managed it since 2015, expired. It has been missing for nine months. what it has always been a meeting point and a fundamental service for students and teachers, that at Unibar they experienced those moments of informal exchange from which comparisons, discussions and ideas arise, generally much more intense and fruitful than those in the closed confines of university classrooms. And, not to be overlooked, all in the tranquility of being able to have a coffee and a sandwich at controlled prices in one of the most expensive cities in Italy like Bolzano.
But what happened, exactly? Immediately after the closure of the Unibar last September, the news circulated that the manager had “given up” and for this reason the bar would remain closed. “I didn’t withdraw before the deadlinesimply on 18 August 2023 the contract expired, as expected” explains the Mr. Alberti, who, as mentioned, had been managing the bar since 2015. “It was a three plus three contract, which was extended for another two years due to Covid” explains Alberti, and specifies “I would like to underline that the relationships with the management are always been excellent.” In short, the manager would not have left suddenly, but his concession would simply have expired, as required by law.
No bolt from the blue for the university administration therefore, which could have taken care of announce a tender in time, so as not to leave the service uncovered. “Maybe they thought we would continue” Alberti hypothesizes. When he talks about his experience at Unibar you can feel all his passion for the job, despite the fatigue: “I got up at half past four to open at six, we started with coffees for the staff who came out from Bolzano for cleaning , then I prepared the sandwiches, and we continued until eight in the evening.” The bar worked well, it was always full, and the work was rewarding. “There was a very nice relationship with the boys and with all the customers, I got along well, it’s nice to see people happy and happy to go to work” says Alberti. A job full of satisfactions, but also demanding”it takes eight people to run the bar” tell us. Then, as for everyone, the problems came with the pandemic: “after Covid, everything completely changed: the difficulties in finding staff, who in the meantime had found other jobs, the increased costs and the skyrocketing bills. We had electricity bills of up to 15 thousand euros in three months, and even if you make a thousand coffees it’s not enough,” he says bitterly. By the way, coffee at the Unibar cost one euro for outsiders and 86 cents for students – miraculous prices in Bolzano. “Working is good, but dying from work is not. We need to understand when it’s time to say enough and leave a good memory” says the ex-manager. Also due to age – “I’m young at heart but I’m 62 years old” – Alberti simply completed the concession as expected, without considering extensions or participation in a new tender.
Empty interior of Unibar with vending machines. Photo Twenty3
By the way, according to rumors, from September the Unibar could reopen with a new manager. From what we understand, in June 2023 – therefore a year ago – there was a market investigation for the Unibar concession. Several weeks ago we tried to find official information from the university administration in this regard, with little success – in fact they sent us back to July, even for simple information on the state of things. “The management told us that it is a problem and that it will be resolved shortly, our position is that we want the bar to reopen as soon as possible not only for the students but for the whole of Bolzano… there was a notice and now we’ll see, but we don’t know much” he told us Alexander von Walther of the South Tyrolean University Association.
Bureaucracy, Covid, staff who cannot be found, skyrocketing costs and bills: the causes why the concessions of bars and clubs are in trouble have been known for several years now – see also the disastrous situation on the Talvera promenades, which risks a summer without a bar (we talked about it here). Problems that aren’t too new by now, to which, in Bolzano, there seems to be a certain inability on the part of the competent administrations to provide adequate responses. Answers that evidently cannot or do not want to be given.
Caterina Longo
Opening image: the Unibar from the outside, photo Venti3
