McCormick administrators restored 24- hour availability to Tech Express Tuesday after they had closed it because of thefts and messiness.

Members of the Northwestern Engineering Student Council and other students lobbied administrators to re-open the 24-hour facility to use as study space.

“(Administrators) did not understand that this is a facility that engineering students, at least, really need,” said Matt Zielinski, NESC president.

After several chairs were stolen from the café, administrators said they were concerned about theft.

“The reopening is keeping in mind that it will be up to students not to vandalize,” Zielinski said. “This is giving partial responsibility to the students to make sure that other students don’t steal or vandalize either. I believe more students will come, (they) will be more responsive to it and more responsible.”

Administrators had discussed alternatives to closing — such as chaining the tables to the floor and extra security — but decided that these options weren’t good enough because it would have made it difficult for the janitorial staff to clean and the security would invite theft.

But restoring the long hours would help prevent theft and vandalism because having more students in the area is a deterrant, said Zielinski, a McCormick junior.

Zielinski also said students hadn’t been too messy when the normal operations of Tech Express shut down.

“It’s more an issue that after hours the only food is the vending machines, so students will sometimes order pizza and leave the boxes out,” he said.