Bridges Community Support Services’ Art House Coffee is planning to open a 12-seat cafe called The Living Room and moving its coffee roasting operation, both to 2808 Sutton Boulevard. The address is the former home of the Black Cat Theatre.
That’s as reported in 40 South News in May, and Feast Magazine on June 30. Art House Coffee is currently roasted at 3111 Sutton.
Nate Larson, son of Art House Coffee owner and Bridges director, Barry Larson, is a baker, and will offer “breads, cookies, homemade crackers with dips, and other light noshes,” Feast Magazine reports.
Barry Larson said they’re looking at opening in September or October, but may have several soft openings before that.
Art House Coffee is also rolling out a dual-powered, off-the-grid coffee cart, which may be given a test run this week. Larson said the cart looks like it came out of 1895.
He said they plan to make “good coffee and all that,” but the focus is to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
“For me, it doesn’t work unless all those parts are working. So you’ll see that here (at the Living Room), and with the cart in particular,” Larson said.
In other parts of the building, Bridges will have office space to the north of Sierra Club’s office, in the former Harper’s Pharmacy. Sierra Club had announced a July 1 moving-in date, but the space isn’t ready.
Larson plans to use many of the cabinets from the former Harper’s Pharmacy in the Bridges office. Most are currently in the basement.
Larson’s wife, Kelly Larson, will move her community art studio to the space north of the Bridges office. Eventually Bridges will have the entire second floor of the building.
No lease is signed yet for the large space in the middle or the northwest corner of the building, which was the Black Cat Theatre lobby.
Look for the boards to come off the sides the building in the next few weeks and be replaced with windows.