The Final Countdown of Blueberry Hill

Mike Sholars
Editor-in-Chief
The owners of Blueberry Hill and the York University Development Corporation (YUDC) have reached an agreement to extend the lease of the popular campus restaurant until the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

As Excalibur reported in June, Blueberry Hill was given orders to vacate their location by the end of July. Alex and Greg Kapassouris, the brothers that have co-owned the establishment since 1994, took legal action to fight the looming deadline. Negotiations continued throughout the summer, culminating in a joint agreement between the two that has the brothers closing down Blueberry Hill April 30, 2012.
YUDC and the university have declined to make any statement, but they have released a three-paragraph official statement approved by both parties. The statement reads that following the April 30 deadline, “Blueberry Hill will leave York Lanes and the York University campus, and its principals will pursue opportunitties elsewhere.’”
The statement further explains that after the deadline, “the space formerly occupied by Blueberry Hill will be substantially renovated and reconfigured and occupied by a new tenant as part of the ongoing rejuvenation of York Lanes.” According to the agreement, YUDC is not obligated to have negotiations regarding the new deadline.
Alex says he is happy how things turned out, although he wishes he could stay for longer.
“The good that’s come out of [this] is the support from the students,” he says. “It’s overwhelming, unexpected. I did not expect the support that we got.”
Much of that support came from a Facebook group, “Save Blueberry Hill”. As of publication, the group has 1,345 members. The group was created by York graduate Devin Edwards. Edwards also created a petition to formally oppose YUDC’s choice to close the restaurant, which currently has 2,813 online signatures.
Using the group as a rallying tool, members exchanged memories of Blueberry Hill, updated each other on its status, and organized peaceful eat-ins to show their support.
However, support for the Hill was not limited to cyberspace; it became a strong presence on campus over the summer. Michael Cannon, president of McLaughlin College, was instrumental in creating on-campus awareness of the issue. He first found out about the situation from another college president, and began to ask questions.
“Why would [YUDC] take one of the most popular restaurants on campus and try to evict them?” he says. “They did it in the middle of the summer, when no students were around to complain. We tried to find out what type of student representation YUDC had.”
“YUDC’s making all these decisions, but they’re not consulting students or asking for their opinions,” he continues. “It was a big statement when almost 3,000 students signed a petition over the summer saying ‘Hey, we want Blueberry Hill to stay.’”
Cannon says that his efforts have not been in vain; YUDC has contacted him since, saying that they are creating an advisory committee in the near future.
McLaughlin College also designed and put up posters explaining the plight of Blueberry Hill, with support from several other colleges as well as the York Federation of Students (YFS).
Despite the fact that this could very well be his last year on campus, Alex is grateful for the continued support from the York community, from students to faculty.
“You’re here all the time, and you don’t realize that it’s such a big deal to them. They could go anywhere else, but this place is a little bit different. We try to have a family environment […] it seems to work.”
The student support movement over the past two months produced more than posters and wall posts: “It was a great summer,” says Alex. “Business was great, we saw a lot of people.”
Alex says that the only thing left for Blueberry Hill to do is prove that they’re a worthwhile establishment by serving good food and doing good business.
“All we’re doing is hoping.”