Louis’ Loft removed the winding bar along the side wall and replaced it with a sleek new bar at the back of the room.

The newly renovated Louis’ Loft opened June 3, unveiling a cool new feel to the popular coffee shop that was once Browsers Café.

Careful to keep the coffee-shop feel, Louis’ Loft will continue to offer products similar to Browsers Café along with an extended variety of baked goods, paninis, toasted sandwiches and pizzas.

Louis’ Loft also expands on Browsers Café’s former alcohol menu to provide local drafts and a full bar featuring liquors from Saskatoon’s own Lucky Bastard Distillers.

The renovations have created a multi-purpose venue that easily transitions from a coffee shop to an event space used for weddings, banquets, campus club functions, and live-music performances.

Louis’ Loft will provide a venue for students to go to when Louis’ pub is closed for private functions.

The new moniker had to represent that the two venues in the Memorial Union Building had joined as one business under Louis’.

The renovations rang in at $750,000 and were funded by the infrastructure fee of $56 that undergraduate students pay each term.

The bar has been moved to the back of the room, creating a spacious area with vaulted ceilings. The memorial wall has been preserved and compliments the cool, grey esthetic of the venue.

University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union business and services manager, Jason Kovitch, said the memorial wall will now be the focal point of the room, a concern voiced by some local war veterans.

The natural lighting has been preserved with windows lining three of the four walls. Additional lights have been installed and the flooring has been redone as well.

More seating is now available, with additional tables and round booths lining the walls. Dinners can accommodate 150 guests and a further 100 guests can be accommodated during receptions.

The USSU decided to renovate Browsers Café to generate more revenue. At the café, book sales plummeted from $350,000 in 2003 to about $100,000 in 2011, and the USSU recently lost Louis’ beach volleyball, which brought in about $35,000 annually.

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Photo: Jordan Dumba/PhotoEditor