GAMBIER — Another building received a significant upgrade as Kenyon College continued its efforts to revitalize downtown Gambier. The college celebrated the opening of its renovated bookstore with a ribbon cutting Thursday.
“It’s really exciting,” said Sean Decatur, president of Kenyon College. “It’s been made possible by donations to the college. We’re really thankful to the donors who made this possible. These are buildings that needed a facelift and an upgrade. The original building here is almost 60 years old so it was time for it to be refreshed.”
With the history that surrounds the Kenyon Bookstore — it’s the nation’s longest continuously operating college bookstore and the third oldest of its kind in America — it’s no surprise that the college would want to give it a little boost. In Decatur’s mind, the bookstore has always symbolized the center of the community.
“It’s a combination that sells books and sells Kenyon things, but actually more of a center of the community,” Decatur said. “A place where there are couches in front and the tables in back. People come and linger, hang out; students come to study. It’s nice to have that, the fact that it is warm and welcoming, and an inviting place.”
Even during the ribbon cutting, students filled a table among the stacks of books near the back and community members sat in comfortable chairs by the front windows.
“It’s great to see the tables filled in the evening and people taking advantage of the opportunity to study and hang out here,” said Decatur.
“We added a lot of windows and light in here,” explained Angus MacDonell, the bookstore manager. He noted that a center wall was taken out to give the store an open modern feeling.
“Along with the modern part, we kept a lot of old parts,” MacDonell said. “These tables in the back are for students to study on and for community members to meet … We have a nice mix of the old and the new. Students have been very supportive of the new space.”
The renovations included offices for IT staff on the second floor, a new elevator, expanded public restrooms, and a natural gas compressor.
“In case of a power outage, this building will remain open for students and anyone else on campus,” MacDonell explained. “They can come study, the lights will be on, they can power their computers and power their phones. Whatever they need, we’ll be the location for students to come to.”
Doris Decatur, mother to Kenyon’s president, browsed the shelves as she enjoyed the new atmosphere. As someone who never passes up a good bookstore, Doris knew Kenyon hit a homerun with its latest project.
“I love it. I saw it last week before they officially opened and I already got two or three books,” Doris said. She knew exactly what she wanted when she made the trip for the ribbon cutting Thursday: unusual puzzles that she could lay out on her table.
“It’s beautiful,” Doris continued. “I used to come over to the bookstore anyway, but now they have, I think, triple done the job because its got everything that a bookstore should have.”
“It’s a very well-designed, inviting, open space,” said Adam Gilson, who popped in a few times while the building was under construction. “It’s a nice evolution of the old space. I admire how we are in the same building, but you would never know it. It was an intelligent use of an existing space and I think it’ll serve us well.”
Kenyon began renovating its bookstore over the summer and temporarily moved its operations to the former Village Market space. The bookstore officially opened last week.
The renovated bookstore is only the second phase of the downtown revitalization project. The first piece involved a new Village Market, which opened across the street from the bookstore this past summer. The next phase, which begins Monday, will involve demolishing the section of the bookstore building that goes to the end of the block. The end result will be new spaces with retail businesses downstairs and housing on the second floor. That project is expected to be completed later this year.
The Kenyon Bookstore is located at 106 Gaskin Ave. in Gambier. Its hours of operation during the school year are 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Saturday.
