A Sanctuary Cafe Logo with botanical border

Things Are Happening!

April 2, 2023| Issue 6

Hello Friends,


We apologize for the long delay between newsletters. For the past two months we were in a constant state of “almost” having our building permit, but it’s finally happened and construction is full speed ahead!


The Good News: We are making significant progress on framing the window wall that will separate the cafe/bookstore from the cat lounge. We’re also exploring color options, finalizing the layout of the micro-bookstore and working on the unique designs that will catify the cat lounge. As always a HUGE thank you to the incredible teams at Sagamore Select and Pauli & Uribe Architects for completely embracing this one-of-a-kind project and helping to make A Sanctuary Cafe a reality! It’s wonderful to work with partners who accept our marked-up copy of Catify to Satisfy with open arms and share our interest in making this the best possible space for cats and humans!


The Not-So-Good News: Unfortunately, these permitting delays mean additional delays to our expected opening, which is now early Fall 2023. We hate disappointing all of the smiling faces who wave and ask “when are you opening” when they see us on Charles Street, but we hope everyone will understand that we need to resist cutting corners in the final stretch, no matter how much we wish we were already welcoming you into the cafe.

Keeping What We Can: As part of our commitment to being as low waste and environmentally friendly as possible, we’re keeping whatever existing conditions we can during this buildout. In this photo, you can see that includes the stairs and the window wall that used to be part of an office. (It doesn’t hurt that the previous tenants left beautiful finishes like this mahogany stair railing!) You can also see moldings, doors and other pieces that were carefully removed (with plans to reuse) in other newsletter photos and recent photos we’ve posted on Instagram (@asanctuarycafe).

In the News

Books to Celebrate Transgender Visibility Day (March 31)

We aren’t letting a little dust (and major construction behind the plastic sheet) keep us from celebrating Transgender Visibility Day in our front window! We’re excited to share some of our favorite books featuring trans and nonbinary characters and by trans and nonbinary authors!


One of the founding principles of A Sanctuary Cafe is to have a truly inclusive and welcoming space where all identities (and abilities) feel accepted and embraced. We hope that visitors will see this reflected in both big design decisions (adding a lift) and smaller day-to-day decisions (which books we choose to highlight).


Have you read any of these wonderful books or authors yet?

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

Upright Women Wanted by

Sarah Gailey

Beyond the Gender Binary by

Alok Vaid-Menon

Visit Our Bookshop.org Storefront!

Kampbell vs. Butterfly Toy

(I.e., The Obligatory Kampbell Photo Essay)

After expertly knocking the butterfly off its mushroom, Kampbell focused on biting and chewing on its enticing knotted string antennae.

No cats were harmed or inconvenienced in the taking of these springtime photos, with window gazing and nap breaks enthusiastically supported. Purring, kneading, and repeated attempts to lick the human’s face suggest that Kampbell had a positive experience.

Newsletter Archives


In Our Next Newsletter


  • More Construction Updates
  • More Kampbell
  • & More Books!




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A Sanctuary Cafe logo with book, cat and coffee pot