At The Guilded Grayland, our mission is to evoke a sense of community. We want everyone who walks in the doors to feel welcome and to know they have friends in this space. We want The Guilded Grayland to be a space to gather, to connect, and to unwind. To that end, our vision for the space is a multi-phase vision.
Phase 1: Retail Store and Gaming Space.
The first floor of what we call “The Kib Warren Side” (due to its origin as the Kib Warren’s Hardware Store) will contain a large retail section designed to cater to all categories of gamer – from casual to campaign, from party games to miniatures. We want to be a one-stop shop for your “gathering around the table” needs. We also want to encourage players to stick around and explore games from our Game Library. Renting from our Library gives you the opportunity to try games you are considering adding to your library or games you want to play but don’t want to own (we get it!). On the first and second floors of the Kib Warren side will be multiple booths and tables for gaming (as well as a kids’ area to keep the little ones entertained!). This phase will also include a tournament space in the back room (which will also serve as overflow seating) and private gaming rooms in “The Hallway” – the wide space separating “The KibWarren Side” from “The Marquis Side.” In addition to Day Passes, we will offer memberships at varying tiers to allow for unlimited library access and, at certain levels, discounts on products.
Phase 2: Expanded Entertainment Options
We intend to use “The Marquis Side” as a place to offer more than one way for Shawnee residents and visitors to connect with one another. While we love sitting around a table to play a game, sometimes moving around and being more active are what’s called for. We’ve envisioned a variety of options, including a miniature golf course and a retro arcade. Many details will factor into our final decisions, but we want the space to be a destination for families, students, church groups and more to spend an evening (or an entire day!) enjoying time together.
Phase 3: The Third Floor
If you haven’t seen our Third Floor, trust us, it’s amazing! Aside from the basement (which is also pretty neat!), it’s the most untouched portion of our building – the part where you can really see the history imprinted over 120 years. It needs a bit of rehab to make it usable, but we dream of having two large, beautiful, event spaces in Shawnee that are steeped in history, unique architecture, and just really cool vibes (exposed brick, original hardwood floors, arched windows!).
As you can tell, the further out the phase, the more nebulous the plans, but we know we can do so much with this amazing building!
Our Needs
Before any steps can be taken to achieve the above goals, we need to ensure our building meets City Codes, specifically for fire safety. In a building of our size that means we need a sprinkler system before we can open our doors to the public. We firmly believe in the vision for our building and the benefits it will offer to our city, therefore we’re looking to our community to join us in raising this barn, in a manner of speaking. We are in need of funds to cover:
• A Fire Suppression System and Fire Blocking. A building of our size requires a combination of Fire Suppression (sprinklers) and Fire Blocking (dividing the space with adequate fire-blocking walls and doors).
• An Elevator. This is not an immediate need, but if we have any remainder from our fundraiser, it will go toward the goal of making the building accessible. Any portion of our future phases which relies on the higher floors of the building will require an elevator to meet ADA standards, but more than that, we wouldn’t want anyone to miss out an experiencing this building simply due to physical limitations.
Help Us Build the Grayland
Visit our Donate page to help build The Grayland. We are so grateful for any financial support we receive, and we are offering a variety of rewards as a way to thank you for partnering with us in this massive endeavor.