Palladium to close doors after two decades on campus

A central landmark on campus for two decades, The Palladium restaurant and Gold Standard cafeteria will be leaving Locust Walk with the Class of 2003. The lease for the property -- which the University took over from the Christian Association in 1999 -- was originally set to expire at the end of 2002. However, restaurant owners and University officials were able to negotiate an extension of the lease to the end of May this year, allowing the eateries to remain on campus through the academic year. Though The Palladium and Gold Standard will shut their doors, the owners say they are not bowing out of the restaurant business entirely just yet. Instead, they will be opening a new Italian restaurant on 47th Street and Warrington Avenue, just south of Baltimore Avenue. Construction has recently begun on the new restaurant -- which will be called Abbraccio, Italian for "embrace" -- and owners say they expect it to officially open in June. Though decisions on what will fill the old building have not been finalized yet, University officials say they are currently considering plans to create "a multipurpose space for students and faculty, with the ability to keep a cafe-like operation going," according to Vice President of Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik. However, opening a full-service restaurant is not an option until the building -- over a hundred years old -- can be upgraded to accommodate new equipment and made more accessible to handicapped customers. "It's a really wonderful space," Blaik said. "We all wish the building was in much better shape to maintain some sort of restaurant operation there, but that's not the case. The building is in serious need of repair." Blaik added that the University was trying to take into consideration students' concerns while selecting the building's new tenant. "I think people were concerned that it may go into becoming a purely academic space or purely administrative space," he said. "I think everyone has been pleased we are thinking seriously of keeping some sort of cafe operation running." The owners said they have mixed feelings about leaving the site they have occupied since 1983. "I really like the campus a lot," owner Roger Harmon said, noting his and co-owner Duane Ball's experiences as students at Penn. "We have fond feelings, but it's tough being on campus because the business fluctuates so much in the course of the year." Harmon said that as the area around campus has changed and parking spaces have become more sparse, the restaurant has become less accessible to those outside the Penn community and more focused on campus patrons. With the opening of Abbraccio, Harmon hopes to return to a more neighborhood-oriented restaurant -- which will feature free parking, a wrap-around outdoor porch with a roof and separate dining room for families with children. "I miss having just a little restaurant, a neighborhood restaurant, which is what we had at one point," Harmon said. "I'm looking forward to going back to that." Harmon said that the owners had been aware their time on campus would be limited since the University purchased the Christian Association building on 36th and Locust streets back in 1999. "We've known for many years, so this plan has been in the works for four years or more," Harmon said. "Our relations with the University have been pretty much cordial through all of this." Some students expressed dismay upon learning the restaurant would be closing. "It's pretty to sit out there in the spring," College sophomore Rachel Reibman said. "My dad went to Penn and whenever he comes to visit, he likes to go have a drink there so that will be sad." "I feel like it's been there a long time," College sophomore Allison Leher added. "It's a part of campus."

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