Books are on the shelves at Elliott Bay’s new Capitol Hill home

DSC_0289, originally uploaded by Elliott Bay Book Company.

It’s here. This is the week Elliott Bay Book Co. plans to open shop on Capitol Hill completing its odyssey from dire straits in Pioneer Square to new hope on 10th Ave. Thursday night is the big block party from 4 – 7 PM on 10th Ave. between Pike and Pine to celebrate the opening. On its Web site, EB says they’re hoping to open as soon as possible this week:

We’ll open at 1521 10th Avenue as soon thereafter as possible—but in any event by April 15. Besides un-shelving, moving and re-shelving all the books, the most complicated—and time-consuming—aspect of the move is the shelves themselves. We’ll have a team of carpenters dismantling all the cedar shelving down to components, trucking the lumber to the new building, and rebuilding shelves (of course all the dimensions will be different) on site. We’ll open the doors at the earliest possible date, but are allowing as much as two weeks, if necessary.

As the biggest retailer on Capitol Hill prepares to open its doors, here is the back-story on the past six months of Elliott Bay drama from the CHS archives: