Gambier Grill Update

LETTER FROM PRESIDENT DECATUR

Dear Members of the Kenyon College Community,

On Sunday, the Gambier Grill closed its doors for the last time. We received official notice of this development on Monday afternoon and below this letter is a closing announcement. Given concerns about the Grill and the plans for a new bar/restaurant in Gambier, I’d like to provide more context on how we arrived at this point and our vision for the future.

Discussions about the Gambier Grill site began during the Campus Master Plan process in 2014, led by a committee consisting of faculty, staff, students and community members. The plan addressed the inadequacies of various buildings and facilities in the village. Some had reached a point of serious disrepair and would require major re-investment or demolition. The village had become, in the past few decades, increasingly dominated by administrative offices of the College, reducing retail space along the main corridors (Gaskin and Chase avenues). In the past, the core of the village had more retail and mixed-use spaces, and in the long-term we plan to return to this model, moving away from the more institutional facilities that we see now. And more housing for students and others in this part of the village is in demand.

One of the spots identified as in need of work was the lot behind Farr Hall. The Student Activities Office, which was razed in January, had become most effective as a home for rodents and feral animals, and the Gambier Grill, while important as a restaurant option in town, occupied a building on its last legs.

As far back as the summer of 2014, the owner and operator of the Grill, Andy Durbin, notified the College that he was interested in finding a buyer to take over the business. Discussions between the College and the owner of the Grill continued into this past fall, when he made clear his desire to get out of the business. Without a buyer for the Grill, and given the fact that the site had already been slated for redevelopment, the College offered Mr. Durbin a financial incentive to continue through the rest of the academic year, closing sometime after graduation. This offer was made in December, and the announcement that the Grill would be closing was made in January.

Mr. Durbin has worked hard to provide a valuable service to the community, and we appreciate it. Despite the offer of a financial incentive by the College to continue operations, he decided this weekend to close immediately; the College received no official notice before the closing. On Saturday night, serious vandalism occurred, and as a result of the damage, there is no affordable option available to continue operations in the building for the remainder of the academic year.

The Grill building will come down, making the lot available to begin work on new construction in the village. Planning for this project has begun, and we will bring a detailed proposal to the Kenyon College Board of Trustees during its April meeting. We anticipate much activity during the next two-and-a-half years. New housing will rise on this lot, housing that, in the long term, will allow us to replace or to rebuild the aging New Apartments. Major changes to Farr Hall will occur. And new housing and retail options on Chase and Gaskin avenues will be built.

No immediate changes are planned for the Gambier Deli and the Village Market, and we are working closely with the owners of those businesses to anticipate the transitions ahead and to ensure both that their operations will continue throughout the project, with permanent homes for them when the work is done. In addition, a new bar/restaurant will be built. Neither the College nor its food services will run this establishment. We will find an independent owner/operator, as in the past. We believe a new facility will be far more attractive to new ownership than the Grill building is now.

The plan has always been to continue with a bar/restaurant – an operation independent of the College – located in the village and serving our students and community members. In the interim, we are looking at options for a late-night food/bar venue for students, perhaps in the Peirce Pub, in the next academic year. The Student Council Housing and Dining Committee is involved in these discussions, and Student Council representatives are involved in the planning for housing in the village.

We are pleased to inform the community as we learn more from the groups working on plans for housing and plans for an interim bar/restaurant.

Yours truly,

Sean Decatur
President, Kenyon College

CLOSING ANNOUNCEMENT

Gambier Grill’s Last Call: Business owner closed the bar and restaurant after last weekend.

The Gambier Grill has ended its run as a popular off-campus haven for revelry and recreation. The permanent closing was a decision made by the owner of the business and follows vandalism at the bar on Saturday night.

Kenyon had hoped that the Grill, widely known as the Cove, would stay open until at least June, but the owner of the business, Andy Durbin of Mount Vernon, twice rejected financial incentives offered by the College. With a long-term vision to enhance student residential life and promote the small-scale charm of the village of Gambier, Kenyon had decided to not renew a lease for the bar and restaurant at 100 E. Brooklyn St.

The College will explore arrangements with food-truck vendors for late-night service in the village through the spring semester and will consider other options to enhance late-night food service and recreation. The College is working with AVI Foodsystems to develop late-night bar and restaurant service at the Peirce Pub for the next academic year. And a new bar and restaurant is planned for construction in about two years on the east side of Gaskin Avenue, between Brooklyn Street and Scott Lane.

“The College regrets Andy’s decision to close his business at this point in the semester,” Chief Business Officer Mark Kohlman said. “Of course we wanted the Grill to remain open through the school year, and we made generous financial offers to help him get through his lease, which runs until the end of June. It’s unfortunate that vandalism in the building this weekend helped push the Grill to closing.”The Grill will be razed to create space for much-needed student housing of a design similar to the North Campus Apartments on the property. The changes are spelled out in the College Master Plan, updated in 2014.

The Gambier Grill location has for years been an iconic student hangout. Larry’s Pizza operated there in the 1970s, and the Pirates’ Cove bar and restaurant opened after an expansion and building improvements in 1978. The name was a nod to the Pirates nickname of the old Gambier High School sports teams. The College bought the building in 2002, and the business began operating as the Gambier Grill under different management. The original owners of the Pirates’ Cove opened a restaurant by that name in Mount Vernon about eight years ago.