Bloom closes after 10 years in Moscow The Argonaut – Argonaut

Bloom, located on the southwest corner of Friendship Square,has served breakfast and brunchinMoscowsince 2011andclosedits doorsDec. 5.

New Saint Andrews College, a private Christian college, owns the building in which Bloom currently resides. NSA resides in the same building and had been renting out a portion of it to Bloom but is nowrefusing to renew Blooms lease.

Before closing, a farewell ceremony occurred out front ofBloom with acrowdof about 30. In attendancewereabout10fellow business owners,members of the community, friends of the ownersand Bloomemployees.

A trombone, accordionand drums were played,giving a solemn goodbye to the restaurantwith the audience demanding an encore, and a tearful goodbye fromownersNaraandBrandonWoodland.

Sandra Kelly, acouncilorof Moscow City Council,spoke about how she felt about the closure.

Im sadBloomis(closing),I really like the heartbeat ofour downtown community.Theydo such amazing things, Kelly said.They do nonprofitwork, they donate to nonprofits all over town and they have been just such an integral part ofthat inclusive, diverse Moscow community thatit breaks my heart to see this happen.

Bloom hadbeen a partofandlaunchedvariousprograms helping the community with food insecurity over many years, such as they had launched in November 2020, Healthy Home: Feed a FamilywhereBloom sought out families through local schools with food insecurity and cooked and delivered fresh meals to them.

Theclosurefirst became public with alarge sign outside BloomandaFacebookposton Nov. 16addressing the closure,New Saint Andrews College wants our restaurant space for their own purposes. We are sorry to inform you that December 5th will be our final day of service. We truly regret the loss to our community this decision will have.

Thestatementcontinuedto thank the community for its supportofthe restaurantscharitableprograms.Thisstatement resulted in an outpouring of grief and sadness over the closureonthe businesssFacebook page.

Right now, with the impending closure of our restaurant, we are feeling so sad and disappointed, Nara Woodland said.With the outpouring of love and support people have shared on our social media pages and through conversations, we understand how important Bloom is to our community. Bloom embodies mutual respect andinclusivity,which added to the vibrancy of our downtown.

As for reopening at anew location, there are no currentplans.

To retain what we all love about a vibrant Moscow, it is essential that downtown businesses serve the greater population of our community and not just a few,she continued.Rightnow,we are just taking it one step at a time. We have been invited by individuals in both Moscow and other communities to relocate our business. We are so grateful that our communities have provided so much support, kind words and memories.

NSA,respondedtoBlooms public statementwith their ownpostthenext day.

Thecollege is experiencing unprecedented growth and is scrapping for every square foot of space to accommodate this growth. Our current plan is to move the NSA bookstore into the space that we rented to Bloom, allowing us to expand the bookstore and add study space in the library where the bookstore currently exists,NSA stated.

New Saint Andrews has experienced a13.9% increase in enrollmentfromthe2019-2020 to 2020-2021 schoolyears,greatlyexceeding the previous average 2%annualincrease in enrollment from2011 to 2020.

In 2019,Moscow City Councilapproved an ordinancethatbarred further expansion of any schoolswithin the Central Business District of Moscow. Thisdistrictenclosesmuch of the buildingswithinthe core ofdowntown Moscow,includingtheSkattaboeBuilding which contains both New Saint Andrews and Bloom.

Brandy Sullivan, co-owner of One World Caf andaMoscowCity Council Member, spoke about the ordinance.

The zoning code doesnt prevent UI or NSA or any other educational institution from purchasing a building in the central business district. The code does, however, limit the use of those buildings to permitted uses, Sullivan said.Since changes were made to the zoning code in 2019, the expansion of existingor addition of new educational services in the central business district is no longer permitted under any condition.

Sullivan states that one of the conditions of the conditional use permit was that NSA must maintain 160 feet of frontage for commercial usage or public usage. A bookstore, to her knowledge, would fit that requirement even if the space would not be used by as wide of a segment of the public as Bloom had been.

Some locals hold concerns ofNSAbeingaffiliated with Christ Churchand taking over downtown through expansion.Previously,The Guardianhasinvestigatedthe churchs financial and political interests.

There is concern from some that the welcoming, diverse makeup of downtown may be threatened as more and more downtown buildings are being bought by a single organized entity, and in this case, one in whichitsleaders stated goal is a strategic takeover tomake Moscow a Christian town, Sullivan said.

Sullivan explained that fears surrounded the idea that landlords could selectivelychoosetenants,limiting downtownsgrowth.

Bloom had been an exception to this. I hope to see non-discriminatory rental practices regardless of who owns a building, and a diversity of business owner backgrounds, beliefs,and cultures, so that our treasured downtown remains a welcoming space for all, rather than providing opportunities to only those of a particular religious affiliation to the exclusion of those with differing beliefs,Sullivan said.

Photos from Blooms farewell ceremony can be seen here.

President of NSA Ben Merkledeclined to commenton Blooms closure.

Cory Summers can be reached at [emailprotected]

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Bloom closes after 10 years in Moscow The Argonaut - Argonaut