Downtown Dagwood's closes for construction

For those students wondering what happened to the Dagwood's on Indiana Avenue, don't worry -- it will be back soon and promises to be better than ever. \nThe Dagwood's deli located on the corner of Fourth Street and Indiana Avenue will be closed for at least five months while the lot is under construction. The building stretching from Dagwood's to the corner of Fourth and Indiana has been completely torn down with plans for a new three-story office space to take its place.\nThe top two floors will hold 12,000 feet of office space belonging to IU. The first floor is where sandwich enthusiasts will find the "new and improved Dagwood's," said owner John Santos.\nSantos said the new building will extend to the corner of the street, giving the business double the space it had before.\nOn top of the extra space, Santos mentioned patrons should expect to see new items on the menu, as a bigger kitchen will enable Dagwood's to expand its selection.\nSome Dagwood's employees were concerned about losing their jobs because of the closing of the Indiana Avenue store. Santos, however, is confident the restaurant will need all its staff during the construction time, and especially after the Indiana location re-opens.\nSantos explained many of his employees at the Indiana Avenue location were working overtime before the store closed for construction. Because of this, Dagwood's did not have to hire more personnel prior to construction. With this strategy, along with the later hours at the 10th Street location, Santos said he is assured he will find enough shifts under one roof.\nSantos is leasing the building where Dagwood's is currently located, and his landlord decided on the construction. He said he expects to lose some business for now, but he realizes the building was in need of repairs. He said he feels it was the right move for his landlord, but is not the best situation for Dagwood's. Santos said his biggest concern is that the projected five months of construction will spill over into a year's time. \n"I won't be surprised if that location is closed down for a year," Santos said, "Winter is about to hit, and the demolition is only beginning."\nSantos said he will not depend upon the students who frequented the Indiana Avenue location to make their way over to 10th Street. Instead, Santos is relying upon faculty members and Bloomington residents to keep his business steady.\nSophomore Sam Gieryn said he does not plan on making the trip over to 10th Street, but he is excited for Dagwood's on Indiana Avenue to re-open.\n"I usually ate at Dagwood's, but now I'm going to other places in the area ... 10th Street is too far." Gieryn said, "I like the idea of baked bread and pastries, I'm pretty excited for it to open back up"