A New Chapter

From Kenyon News - June 19, 2017

As long as they move the comfortable chairs when the Kenyon Bookstore moves in July, Gambier resident Donna Clark-Cetek will be happy.

“I like to meet people who come in and sit down to wait for the shuttle to the airport. You can get 45 minutes with a very interesting person. I’ve met visiting professors, parents, people with the writing camps. And then you start trading stories!” she said.

The bookstore’s mid-July move is part of a phased downtown-revitalization plan that has already improved access to Middle Path and will add retail space on Gaskin Avenue. The bookstore’s temporary relocation allows crews to renovate the south end of Farr Hall, where the bookstore will return this winter. The renovated bookstore will feature updated interiors, a new facade, second floor offices, a sprinkler system, updated lighting and other features.

Angus MacDonell P’17, general manager of the bookstore, has assured Clark-Cetek that her favorite chairs will be part of the move. The bookstore’s temporary space will be about 1,500 square feet smaller than its permanent home. The storage space underneath Farr Hall will accommodate the inventory that cannot fit in the public space.

What to expect during the bookstore’s temporary relocation and renovation:

• Late June: Workers remove some of the wall between the former Village Market and Gambier Deli spaces and paint and clean the interiors. Textbooks will be sold from the deli space during the bookstore’s time in the location this fall.

• Mid-July: The bookstore moves to its temporary location at the north end of Farr Hall.
• July–November: The bookstore resumes normal hours of operation and offers the same services, including
• FedEx, UPS and USPS parcel deliveries. Recipients can pick up packages using the deli office entrance that faces the two new apartment buildings behind Farr Hall.
• Coffee, ice cream and newspapers for sale.
• ATM. A freestanding ATM will be available in the bookstore’s temporary space and again in the permanent space. When construction of the new Gaskin Avenue retail space is completed, a bank ATM will stand between the bookstore and the new deli space.
• Late November: The bookstore returns to its newly renovated, permanent space, and the laundry center reopens for public use. Crews demolish the northern two-thirds of Farr Hall to make way for three new Gaskin Avenue retail buildings.