Harvard Square To Lose Dunkin' Donuts

When students return to Cambridge in the fall, a staple of Harvard Square will be gone.

The combination Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Bow Street will close its doors August 31, clearing the way for the completion of renovations to its building, which is owned by the Harvard Cooperative Society.

In May, the adjacent Bow and Arrow Pub was forced to shut down to allow the start of restoration of the two-story building.

While the Dunkin' Donuts franchise was expected to close months ago along with the Bow, it was allowed to stay while renovations started.

"The rest of the building has been gutted," said Dunkin' Donuts owner Steve Latzanakis. "Everything has been renovated except for us."

But in September, the coffee and ice cream outlet, which was featured in the 1998 movie Good Will Hunting, will finally be forced to close.

"We have to clear out the tenants so that developers can develop the building," said Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy Jr. '73.

Despite the displacement, Latzanakis said that he expects to return to the location next spring after renovations are completed, although he will most likely pay a higher rent.

"We're under negotiations with the developers to come back," he said. "It looks very positive."

IDM Inc, the development company that controls the building, had said last winter that it wanted to find one client for the entire building.

But according to Latzanakis, leasing the space to only one tenant is "no longer a factor" in deciding who will move into the building after renovations are complete.

"They've been very open to bringing us back," Latzanakis said. "They know the value of this place to people."

He said he hopes his business will be able to have a "grand re-opening" next spring to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Harvard Square.

"Hopefully, we'll be back bigger and better than before," Latzanakis said.

On the other end of Harvard Square, the JFK St. CVS location has been undergoing renovations all summer, moving to a smaller location next to the French bakery C'est Bon.

When the CVS renovations are completed in the late fall, C'est Bon will expand into the former site of the Army Navy store, which is currently occupied by CVS.

"We are definitely going to increase the size of the store," said C'est Bon's manager.

The new summer developments are the most recent in a line of announced closings and departures. In June, Sage's grocery store left its Brattle Street location.

Owners of Grafton Street announced recently that they would have to leave their 1280 Mass. Ave. location by next June to allow for the expansion of Cambridgeport Bank.

"The whole Square is changing, so you have to go with the flow," the C'est Bon manager said.