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Dave Ferrante, owner of Visible Voice Books in Tremont, Thursday August 2, 2007. Ferrante’s shop is on the move to Ohio City. (Thomas Ondrey\/The Plain Dealer)The Plain Dealer<\/p>\nDave Ferrante, owner of Visible Voice Books in Tremont, Thursday August 2, 2007. Ferrante’s shop is on the move to Ohio City. (Thomas Ondrey\/The Plain Dealer)The Plain Dealer<\/p>\n
CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2013 The \u201cvoice\u201d in Visible Voice Books<\/a> is about to get a whole lot louder. <\/p>\n After nearly two decades tucked into Cleveland\u2019s Tremont neighborhood, the bookstore is packing up its shelves and heading a mile and change west, into Ohio City. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was time to find a larger place to execute a bigger vision for what I\u2019ve always had for Visible Voice,\u201d said Dave Ferrante, the bookstore owner.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen this opportunity came along, it was a perfect fit in every sense of the word.\u201d<\/p>\n The move isn\u2019t just about geography\u2014it\u2019s about scale, ambition and making good on the \u201cvisible\u201d part that\u2019s been on view for years.<\/p>\n When it opened in 2007, Visible Voice was part of Tremont\u2019s creative backbone: A second-floor hideaway where you could stumble into a perfectly curated book, sip some coffee or wine and maybe catch a reading or small performance. <\/p>\n It had that lived-in, serendipitous vibe; a literary salon crossed with a neighborhood living room. But at just 1,100 square feet, the space could only do so much. <\/p>\n Eventually, the ceiling wasn\u2019t just metaphorical \u2014 it was very real. Now that ceiling is about to be shattered. Or at least removed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we were demoing this new location, the false ceilings yielded to some very high ones,\u201d Ferrante said. \u201cThat\u2019s when we all realized this building had indeed been a theater in its former life.\u201d<\/p>\n The new Visible Voice is landing in a former Lorain Avenue theater at 4601 Lorain Ave., rehabbed after decades of neglect. <\/p>\n It\u2019s six times the size of the original location. <\/p>\n At 6,000 square feet, this new VV can hold three times as many books, along with a full caf\u00e9, a bar, a mezzanine for reading or studying and a stage big enough for national touring acts and local talent alike.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bookstore, but it\u2019s also a hangout, a venue, a caf\u00e9 and a cultural hub rolled into one.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not all. The menu for the caf\u00e9 is being crafted by Melt founder Matt Fish<\/a> and will be executed by former Coffee Coffee Coffee owner Trey Kirchoff so expect food with actual personality \u2014 sandwiches, salads, small plates and fare that invites patrons to linger instead of rush. <\/p>\n Pair that with coffee, espresso or a drink from the bar and suddenly you\u2019ve got a place where flipping through your new book or catching a band feels equally natural.<\/p>\n And that band? The stage can hold 150 people, which opens the door for both intimate shows and marquee literary events\u2014something sorely missing from the scene since the days of poetry slams at the Beachland Ballroom<\/a> or, before that, Speak in Tongues<\/a>.<\/p>\n That latter venue \u2014 a collectively operated DIY creative space and concert venue that was located at 4311 Lorain Ave. \u2014 operated from 1994 to 2001. <\/p>\n Nothing ever quite replaced its presence in this part of the city… until now.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so much we can do with this new space; things that I\u2019ve personally wanted to see happen for a long time but was hampered by lack of space,\u201d said Ferrante. \u201cThat will no longer be an issue.\u201d <\/p>\n He sees the new VV as a communal hub in the making.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in this new space, three conference rooms give book clubs, workshops and community groups a dedicated home. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of these rooms was actually the projector room for the theater,\u201d Ferrante said. \u201cWith the unique stage space and these cool 80-year-old murals that we found in the demo process, there\u2019s a lot to take in.\u201d<\/p>\n For the first time, the hybrid bookstore has the space to live up to its name fully \u2014 audible, visible and alive in every sense.<\/p>\n The new neighborhood is ready for it, too. <\/p>\n Lorain Avenue is in the middle of its own glow-up, thanks to Sartorial<\/a>, Cent\u2019s Pizza<\/a>, The Judith<\/a> caf\u00e9 and more filling in the storefronts. <\/p>\n Visible Voice will join forces with Ferrante\u2019s other nearby businesses (Proof BBQ<\/a> and Guitar Riot<\/a>) under a banner he\u2019s calling \u201cThe Highlands,\u201d a two-building cluster of music, food, yoga and now, literature. He nicknamed the zone after the 1997 Bob Dylan song.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a song about finding a place for relief,\u201d Ferrante said. \u201cWith everything we have in the neighborhood, that just felt like a good name for things.\u201d<\/p>\n Leaving Tremont was not an easy thing easy, but this is not a farewell, either. In the interim, Ferrante\u2019s right-hand-slash-general-manager, Abby Robejsek, has been juggling the transition between the spaces \u201clike the pro that she is. I\u2019m grateful she\u2019s been such a big help, as she always is.\u201d<\/p>\n This new spot is less than two miles away, and the heart of the store \u2014 the curated sanctuary, the accidental discoveries, the conversations that start between shelves \u2014 will travel with it. <\/p>\n Only now, there\u2019s more room to breathe. More room to grow. And more things to lose an afternoon or evening to without ever meaning to.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re excited about the future,\u201d Ferrante said. <\/p>\n The space is expected to open in November.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Ferrante, owner of Visible Voice Books in Tremont, Thursday August 2, 2007. 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