The Community Mercantile Co-op is preparing to embark on a $1.5 million remodeling project designed to give the natural foods grocery a more convenient, energy-efficient and welcoming operation.

But most of all, the four-month job will be intended to give the natural foods grocery a restored sense of identity, six years after the operation relocated less than a mile to 901 Iowa from 901 Miss.

“We’re really interested in engendering greater community spirit around The Merc,” said Sacie Lambertson, in her third year as a co-op board member. “The new Merc is a lot better than the old Merc was in almost every way, except that it doesn’t have a good eating/ gathering place. :

“This will have that place – a community gathering place.”

That place, in the form of a new deli “dining room” just inside a new front door, will only be a part of the work expected to begin once city officials approve a site plan for the project. The plan awaits administrative approval in the city’s planning office, a move expected by the end of the week.

For the store’s more than 2,700 members, and even more shoppers, the project will be expected to last through October, displacing departments and other operations. Free State Credit Union’s branch is scheduled to close Monday, then reopen once the new branch is in place.

The Community Room will be demolished, the existing deli seating area will be eliminated and the popular Bulk Department will be propped up on wheels, so that it can be moved as necessary during construction.

As the project moves on, shelves will be reset, the front door will be moved and new high-efficiency coolers will be installed for produce and self-serve deli items.

“It’s a very serious investment,” Lambertson said. “This is a true, for-the-future investment.”

The Merc, with revenues of about $9 million a year, will be making its first major overhaul since leaving a former bowling alley to expand into the former home of Alvin’s IGA, at 901 Iowa.

Members of the co-op’s board of directors have talked for more than three years about expanding the store’s capacity for offering prepared foods, the overall description for deli, bakery items and catering operations. Focus groups helped determine what features shoppers would like to see included in the project.

Leaders have since turned to members to help finance the work, and dozens have responded with donations or low- or no-interest loans.

“It’s more than a grocery store,” said Tom Harper, a Realtor and co-op member who is among those loaning the co-op money interest-free. “It’s a hub of the community.”