Schoenhof's Will Move to Spec Club

Forced to vacate its current location to make room for new office complex, a Mass Ave bookstore plans to move into the space underneath the Spee Club, one of Harvard's selective male final clubs.

Schoenhof's store, specializing in foreign language books, is currently selecting an architect to convert the basement of the Spee's Mt. Auburn St. headquarters into a retail area. David Leyenson, manager of Schoenhof's, said last week.

Leyenson said the move had been approved by the Cambridge zoning board but the architect might recommend some modifications to the building's exterior, which would then have to win approval from the Cambridge Historical Society and the Spee Club itself.

He added that he has o plans to move back to Mass Ave when the new building is finished. "We'll make only one move, and stay permanently in the Spee."

Both Leyenson and club officials refused to reveal the financial details of the agreement.

Construction of four-story office building on the site between Plympton and Linden Streets across from the Yard is scheduled to begin in January and continue for 14 months. The businesses occupying the block will be forced to relocate before the work begins, and some store owners have said they will not be able to afford the higher rents for their old locations when the construction is complete.

The new complex has been controversial not only because of the relocations, but also because of the details of proposed complex itself.

Community activists this spring protested the original plans for the building claiming that they did not blend with the surrounding architecture. The Niles Company, which leases and manages the block, eventually accepted several modifications in the plans.

"We're sorry to leave Mass Ave, be cause it is a very desirable location, but we're optimistic about turning the new space into a nicer bookstore than we have now," Leyenson said.

Peter L. Scully '58, head of the graduate board of the Spee Club, said the basement space is not currently being used, adding that club members are pleased with the proposed tenant.

"Schoenhof's is the perfect tenant," Scully said. "Its books are part of the University and part of public life." Earlier this year, Scully added, Steve's Ice Cream had wanted to lease the space, but the club rejected them because the business was "not the right tenant."

The store, which was founded in 1856, stocks a large selection of foreign language books and supplies test-books for many of Harvard's language courses.

Follow the Leader

Other Harvard final clubs, including the Porcellian, the A.D. and the D.U. Clubs, already have tenants in the lower floors of their buildings.

"We're only following the lead of the other clubs," Scully said, adding, "but we're re doing it 50 years late."