March 17 marked the grand reopening of the University of North Carolina Asheville’s Game Room.
“I’m just happy, I’m just very happy it’s here. I feel this is a genuine place to hang out and garner community. You know, all the good things that having a space (like this) evokes in the most positive way,” UNCA Sophomore Nicco Avallone said.
The Game Room gave out free snacks, including St. Patrick’s Day-themed cupcakes and candy, and raffled a Lego flower set to celebrate the opening.
“I think it went really well. A lot of familiar faces came back, which was really exciting to see. We also had some new faces that I had never seen before. So it was a really cool introduction,” Game Room Associate Violet Woolard said.
Woolard said around 80 people stopped by for the reopening, suitable for the first day after spring break.
The Game Room closed for much of the semester, leaving many to speculate about its reason.
“I have many conspiracies built up over what exactly happened to it. Maybe it’s a government scam, you know, they’re taking the game room from us cause they want us to suffer or something? No. I realize this now may not be the truth. But I don’t have to speculate anymore because it’s back,” Avallone said.
According to Woolard, the reason behind the Game Room’s closing is more straightforward.
“Mainly, it was we had a lot of staffing issues. I was the only employee up until a week ago in the game room, and I have other jobs, so I can’t be there all the hours it needed. But we were finally able to get some people hired. We’re getting them trained hopefully this week,” Woolard said.
The reopening is well-timed, according to UNCA Sophmore Noah Morgan.
“We just got out of Spring Break, halfway through the semester, and it’s on St. Patrick’s Day, so kind of lit,” Morgan said.
Woolard said the tentative plan for the rest of the semester is to have the Game Room open from four or five to 10 on weekdays and two to nine on weekends once more people are trained.
“Don’t be afraid to come in alone. It can be very scary if you’re not coming in with a group but we have so many people that come in and play a solo game of pool, or we have a lot people that come in and will just ask to join a group and pretty much everyone’s open to having another person play,” Woolard said.
