Le Moyne College will see the opening of a brand new Café Kubal, a local brand of Syracuse-area coffee shops, in the old firehouse on Salt Springs Road this summer. Set to open on Aug. 15th, it will be a new coffee spot that is available to both students and the general public.

Fouad Dietz, director of planning design and construction at Le Moyne, says the Café Kubal at Le Moyne plans to offer monthly programs and activities to students, though no official plans have been set. It will become one of several locations of Café Kubal, which is a familiar Syracuse-born coffee franchise that has opened several shops in Central New York.

Joseph Della Posta, spokesperson for the college, said it is unclear at this time whether or not the Kubal will accept “splash cash” as payment from students, but the decision will be made and confirmed closer to the opening date.

The firehouse — renamed to the McNeil Firehouse in 2024 — will be the home of both the Café Kubal. It will be called “The Karper Café” after Le Moyne associate provost Barbara Karper, whose career at the college spans a half-century, and will host offices dedicated to mental health awareness. Located on the second floor, that space will include a graduate program in mental health counseling.

The new name for the firehouse comes from Le Moyne alumni Daniel McNeil III, the founder of the McNeil Academy for Risk Management and Insurance, as recognition for his donation to the college that helped fund the renovation of the firehouse. McNeil was just honored, alongside Karper — described by Le Moyne as a passionate champion of diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging — in April’s “Le Moyne in New York Gala.”

The firehouse itself has had a long history with Le Moyne, being bought by the college in 1975 as the home for Le Moyne’s theater program. By 1999, it was sold back to the city to be used for other projects, only for the school to buy it back in 2019 as part of Le Moyne’s broader renovation plans.

Dietz has confirmed that the plans for the firehouse have been documented, submitted, and are now awaiting approval from the city. Dietz assured The Dolphin that all paperwork is accounted for, and he sees no reason why the city would not offer an approval permit. When asked about the recent closings of Café Kubals in Auburn and Eastwood, Dietz said that was due to post-pandemic adjustments and he expects the Le Moyne coffee shop to do well.

Le Moyne has housed café spots in the past, most recently being the Le Moyne Plaza which housed a Barnes & Noble, Dunkin’ and Cam’s Pizzeria. The plaza closed in 2019 as part of renovation plans, and the building now houses the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity.