When the TCU Bookstore caught fire last year, the plans for renovation were cast in as much haze as the night itself. Now, Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, said design and logistical elements will be finalized within the next few weeks for the new bookstore. He said it will become an icon of the university.

The fire produced an opportunity to design, from the ground up, something that would really represent TCU, said Brian Gutierrez, vice chancellor for finance and administration.

The new store will more than double the size of its predecessor and boast an expanded cafe, a mezzanine with study area, wireless Internet access and an outdoor patio, said Llisa Lewis, general manager of the bookstore.

“It will be a cornerstone both for the campus and the community,” Lewis said.

The new building will have a larger street presence than the previous store, stretching from Berry Street to University Drive and encompassing two stories and 34,000 square feet, according to the Physical Plant Web site.

Lewis said the groundbreaking ceremony, tentatively scheduled for March 4, will complete a four-month design period between a student committee, faculty and Barnes and Noble representatives.

The collaboration between TCU and Barnes and Noble makes the new bookstore the only one of its kind like it in the United States, Lewis said.

It is a joint venture, she explained, where TCU owns the building but Barnes and Noble will finance it.

Lewis said she saw the new bookstore becoming a meeting place for students and one of the great parts of campus when it is completed in late December 2007 or early 2008.

She said there will be an outdoor patio and park to make the space more attractive. Glass will cover the exterior of the building, including part of the patio, which will have misters spraying water, ceiling fans and heaters to make the cafe a comfortable year-round meeting place.

The cafe will have 150 seats encompassing both indoor and outdoor areas, the general reading section will be quadrupled and the mezzanine will be dedicated to textbooks and a study area, Lewis said.

Lewis also said the new textbook section will be better organized, making it easier for students to find books.

Tara Wanzeck and Morgan Murrah, freshman nursing majors, said they are looking forward to the new cafe to socialize and study.

“It will be nice to have a real book store instead of the trailers,” Murrah said.

Before the new bookstore can be built, however, the temporary store has to make room by moving to the site of the old bookstore, Lewis said.

The bookstore staff is urging students to complete their textbook shopping before Feb. 8 because the textbook trailers will be the first to move, shutting down textbook sales through Feb. 11.

Lewis said the entire bookstore will be closed Feb. 10 and 11 while the rest of the trailers are moved.