James "Jimmy J" Jansen and his Tradewinds Café have been blown away by a plan to remake a pair of college eateries.
Jansen was informed by Southwestern College Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs Nicholas Alioto that he had 30 days to vacate Tradewinds due to late rent payments. After running the Polynesian-themed bar for a decade, Jansen finds himself without a campus business. Last year he lost the lease on his once-popular Jimmy J's Espresso Cart near the Learning Resource Center.
"He will not be the vendor anymore that is in charge of the facility and there are a number of reasons for that," said Chris Bender, SWC's chief communication officer. "But the main reason is that he was late in paying his rent and we're going to look for a new operator."
Bender said Alioto and other administrators are in the process of deciding who will run the campus-owned Tradewinds Café. It will be closed during summer due to the lack of student activity on campus and under new leadership when it reopens in the fall.
Jansen also ran Jimmy J's Espresso cart for more than 10 years on campus, but the Associated Student Organization (ASO) hit him with a 30-day notice in August 2009. He was to pay $11,885 in back rent or vacate the spot rented from the ASO. Jansen said he vacated the premises because he could not afford to pay rent, particularly from the summer.
Jansen said that despite efforts to have his $3,000-a-month rent lowered, the college was not willing to negotiate any kind of deal.
"They don't care about me, so I don't care about them," said Jansen.
Business proved even more difficult when Jansen was prohibited from selling non-coffee related products, such as soups, salads and sandwiches at Tradewinds.
"It has been a wacko deal," he said. "Tradewinds was doomed from the beginning."
Jansen said intransience by the ASO and Alioto caused him to lose his home to bankruptcy. He said he was ready to get out of SWC.
"This whole operation has been completely devastating," he said.
For three years Jansen said he felt pressure from the ASO and the administration to pack up and leave.
"They were out to do me," he said. "You can't expect business people to be understanding."
Jansen said that aside from complications with administrators and ASO, working at SWC was great.
"The students and teachers here are the best part about this campus," he said.
As for the future, Jansen said he has no plans, but expressed confidence in his being able to move on smoothly.
"I'm a grown man, I can take care of myself," he said.
In the meantime, SWC administration is focused on the construction and development of two large projects, the campus snack bar and the corner lot.
Located on the perimeter of the school near the 400 building, the snack bar officially closed on May 14 for about eight months. It will be replaced with an updated and greatly expanded facility, serving as a combination of a snack bar and convenience store.
"It's gonna be one phenomenal building," said Joe Fighera, director of Food Services.
Construction will modernize the property into a 3,000-square-foot facility offering Wi-Fi and a combination of indoor, outdoor and partially covered seating for 180 people. It will be intricately accented with blue lighting.
Remodeling of the new building will cost approximately $3.8 million and is funded by Proposition AA, which was passed in 2000. Prop AA gave SWC $89 million in bond funding to be used for infrastructure, renovation and modernization of the campus.
Fighera said the new facility is meant to be a place for students to reenergize and provide more jobs for the community.
A much-debated corner lot project is also scheduled to begin in May 2012. It is funded by a $389 million bond under Proposition R. The 110,000-square-foot area located on the corner of East H Street and Otay Lakes Road will include administrative offices, public conference space and a food court.
Fighera said he is working with SWC's culinary arts program to develop opportunities for students to work at the new corner lot facility, but nothing has been confirmed.
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