“We are not going anywhere.” Those are words taken straight off The Alchemist’s website.
Their location off NE 24th St. is cruising towards redevelopment, which will be called Generation. Some feared that The Alchemist, like so many small businesses, would be displaced during construction and never return. Not in this case.
“We will be moving just a few steps from our actual location,” their statement reads. “It is actually a cute house in the back of our café that will be transformed as The Alchemist Café for the time the construction lasts.”
Once Generation, a mixed use apartment complex, opens, The Alchemist will move into the new building and the space will be customized for them. Groundbreaking on Generation sometime later this year.
When this project was being debated, two beloved institutions were frequently mentioned: the Parkland memorial mural and The Alchemist. Currently, they are nestled just off the hustle and bustle of 26th St. and NE 15th Ave. But Generation is expected to bring the hustle and bustle with it.
During meetings with the city, developers have pledged to recreate the mural on a new wall. Now it appears the other worry is working itself out.
OutSFL popped in during a recent afternoon, and was greeted with the standard, yet still heartfelt, “Welcome home.” People felt reassured that their home away from home was going to adapt to the situation.
There is no guarantee, at this point, that the revamped location will have a charming garden as it does now. But there is a sense of relief that this welcoming, Bohemian venue will stick around.
“The Alchemist Café is more than a business. Way more,” they write. “It is a way of life, a destination, a place where four books have been written, it is the place where you can see someone in distress and some other soul praying for her. It is a café for doctors, architects, students, writers, husbands and wives, their kids, cat lovers, dogs that own the floors. Yes, we are here. We will be here. We are staying here.”
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