Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | November 27, 2017 | wbjournal.com The philosophy professor who bought a Worcester cornerstone will open a cultural institute BY SARAH CONNELL Special to the Worcester Business Journal From Shack's to Emengini T he $1.25-million sale in January of 405 Main St., the building housing Shack's Clothes for nearly 90 years, is a firm reminder of down- town Worcester's emerging role as a cultural hub. While long-time resi- dents recall Main Street as a retail des- tination, at present, the city seeks to capitalize on its most valuable 21st century asset – creativity. The new owner, Ifeanyi Menkiti, knows better than anyone it is culture, not retail, that makes a city vibrant and liveable. Menkiti plans to launch the Emengini Institute for Comparative Studies as a means for activating 405 Main St. as well as his nearby property at 6 Chatham St. "Like many others, I want Worcester to walk with a new swagger. The underlying strength is all here, and the city does not have to play second fid- dle to any other place," Menkiti said. "But it is also important that the city pay attention to its cultural capital. You cannot have a robust and livable city without educational and cultural institutions." A lifetime of cultural appreciation Menkiti was born in Onitsha, Nigeria, where he attended a Catholic elementary school and later a Catholic boarding school. He came to the U.S. to attend Pomona College from which he received his bachelor's degree in 1964. After Pomona, he completed graduate work at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in philos- ophy. Menkiti joined the faculty of Wellesley College in 1973. After 41 years of teaching, he retired in 2014. He is the owner/proprietor of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square, the nation's oldest all-poetry book shop, made famous over the years by its association with poets such as T.S. Eliot, e.e. Cummings, and Elizabeth Bishop, who incidentally, hailed from Worcester. "The reason I got involved in the Grolier was because of my long-term interest in poetry. At Pomona, I stud- ied literature and philosophy and wrote a thesis on the poetry of Ezra Pound," Menkiti said. The Grolier will celebrate its 90th anniversary this year. Menkiti's proposal for the Emengini Institute for Comparative Studies is enriched by the fact both of his prop- erties are deeply embedded in Worcester's history, though he was not at first familiar with their significance. But Menkiti has learned from experi- ence that a city's vibrancy does not depend on its structures. "My own vision for Worcester is that the city be able to flourish with the arts and culture as part of its cur- rent revitalization. Cities are about people, first and foremost, and I understand infrastructure and build- ings as being there to serve their rea- sonable needs of people," he said. Menkiti served on the Board of the Cambridge Arts Council during the launch the Cambridge River Festival, which has persisted for more than 30 years. He saw the festival as a transfor- mative melding of cultures. "The city comes alive, with vendors and street jugglers, townsfolk and uni- versity folks, businesses and cultural institutions mixing it up with each other," he said. Now, he sees this same glimmer of potential emerging in the city of Worcester. Wellesley College professor Ifeanyi Menkiti at his Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square, where he learned cultural anchors are important to a neighborhood's development. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

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