The Roosevelt Coffeehouse – A Dream for our Staff and Hopefully the Community – From Guest Blogger Kenny Sipes
As the founder of The Roosevelt Coffeehouse, in 2018 we found ourselves humbled by a city that loved and supported us enough to expand to a second location. The first location benefited from a building owned by an architect that was basically ready to move into on day one.
But, in 2018, as we navigated an expansion into the Gravity project in Franklinton, we were staring at an empty box. We had nothing. No floor, no HVAC, no lighting, no walls, no bathrooms, nothing. This isn’t out of the ordinary, but it was all new territory for us. This was going to take a great deal of effort and elite design. The options were endless. We had seen what we lacked in design and spacing in our first space and now with an empty slate the sky was the limit. Since our first shop had put us in a position to fit into what was already there, we now had the capacity to build out our space with the most efficient and esthetically pleasing way we could think of. Enter Triad.
Over the years, Triad’s Brent Foley, had become a close friend of mine. The synergy of doers in the city is intoxicating and that is what brought us together. We had worked toward a potential expansion the year before, and it had fallen through. But the hope to collaborate again was in us now. Looking back, it feels like this was an initiation into getting where we are now.
So, we engaged the Triad team to build out the space at Gravity. Triad created the best workflow for our baristas, spacing for our customers, and a commitment to our mission in a way that was beautiful, tangible, and yet subtle.
Every idea we had and every inspiration we offered to Triad was thoughtfully received and well researched. Getting together with the team to hash out details made the creating process painless and easy. Triads’ input and their willingness to hear us and make changes along the way, in addition to collaborating with our builder, Compton Construction, made the ability to build the beautiful space at Gravity. We are super proud of what came to fruition. Everything from the mission statement on the wall to the color scheme of the space. As a non-profit fighting the injustices of hunger, unclean water and human trafficking, we have colored icons that focus on those injustices. Orange for trafficking which you will find in the pendant lights, aqua for water which you’ll find on the HVAC system throughout the space, and brown for hunger which represents itself not only in the color of the ink on the mural but also on our bowling alley wood tables.
The shop is a dream for our staff and hopefully the community. Triad came to the table with expertise and made our lives so much easier for not having to worry about having an empty box to begin with. We were in good hands with the most elite architect we could find.
You can check us out and support our vision at www.rooseveltcoffee.org and www.roosevelt.coffee
