The Lumberjack

Issue date: 8/22/07 Section: Culture

Media Credit: John C. Osborn

Sacred Grounds, once a place of community bonding, studying and good coffee closed its doors June 15 after nearly 10 years of serving the caffeine-fiends of Arcata. Despite the closing, Sacred Ground's Roastery cooks on.

Glancing around the roastery, located on Ericson Court near the Arcata College of the Redwoods campus, nostalgia takes over. One can pick out old remnants of the cafe: the wooden tables, familiar looking plants and the paperboy sculpture.

"Sacred Grounds had a good ambiance, with lots of windows, good coffee and music," said art major Lauren Kinney, a frequent customer at Sacred Grounds. "It was a really good place to do homework. It was really homey. Places like Muddy Waters and Cafe Mokka just don't have that."

When owner Fred Herbert proposed plans about a year ago to close the cafe once the lease was up, Roaster Tim Dominic was initially reluctant to close.

"At first I said 'no way' but the rent was being increased and most of the profits here [at the roastery] were going into the café every month," Dominick said. "The revenue just didn't make an equal increase."

The 7th and F Street location was also an area of concern.

"The building was a dump and wasn't getting any better," said Dominick, referring to its reputation for an often-potent bathroom stench and leaky roof.

Dominick expressed vague possibilities of opening a smaller cafe downtown in the coming years.

"It would definitely have a different kind of feel though," he said.

Sacred Grounds' espresso drinks can still be had if one were willing to make the trek. The roastery is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They also have a stand at the Arcata Farmer's Market every Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At the roastery, an Arcata College of the Redwood's student expressed her remorse for the cafe's closure to Dominick while he steamed the milk for her Mexican Mocha.

"I moved up here from Fresno and I was really looking forward to studying with a good cup of coffee and free wireless," she said. "There's nothing like that in Fresno."

Maegan McLean can be reached at mam141@humboldt.edu

LINKS

Sacred Grounds Organic Coffee Roaster

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