Bar Service is Coming Back to The Bomber

The Bomber has been at the heart of student life at Waterloo for generations. Work to bring the Bomber and bar service back to campus, after its closure in 2019, started under the 2025-26 WUSA President, Damian Mikhail, and is continuing with the 2026-27 Board. I want to share an update on where we are at in securing permission to serve alcohol in the space.

Our previous business model tried to do many things at once by serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, hosting bar nights, and subsidizing the space for student events. Unfortunately, with the high staffing costs this incurred, along with low turnout for regular bar nights and a steady decrease in alcohol sales, the decision to close The Bomber was made as it was no longer a financially viable venture.

Since 2019, we have been working towards our longer-term SLC Lounge Plan, to really transform The Bomber into a space that students have told us they are looking for on campus. The long-term vision for this space is a spot where you can connect, recharge, study, host events, and feel connected to the campus community. In 2025, Mikhail ran as WUSA President with the goal to explore opening The Bomber for the interim, while we work on the SLC Lounge Plan. The goal of the pilot was to restart daytime bar service and offer limited evening events, as we’ve heard is something students want to see at Waterloo

I am pleased to share that, after almost a year, we have reached an agreement with the University and are now able to serve alcoholic beverages in The Bomber. Unfortunately, this won’t be in place for September with the work that needs to be done, such as creating operational procedures and hiring staff. We currently expect bar service to be available later this fall term.

I know this has been a long time coming, but our negotiations with the University took longer than expected. As much as getting this done sooner was the goal, we wanted to ensure we got it right and didn’t settle for anything less than what we needed to make this reopening a success.

We are grateful to the University and all staff who worked to make this possible. I look forward to seeing you at The Bomber this fall term!

Samir Sharma
WUSA President 2026-27