Outside Starbucks Thursday at 1 p.m. President Brian Casey and Mayor Sue Murray held normal-sized scissors to cut a green ribbon, making the opening of the coffee shop official.
After guests moved inside, Casey stood behind a podium with the DePauw crest.
"We set out to build the next great college town in this country," Casey said.
Murray spoke after Casey, then Newt Crenshaw, an executive at Eli Lilly and Company - the bookstore's namesake - and finally David Terrell, the Lt. Governor's executive chief of staff spoke. The whole ceremony presented to approximately 60 people took about 20 minutes.
"It's an amazing anchor to our downtown," Murray said.
Harriet Watson and Victoria Evens, Greencastle High School seniors, said they saw people walking into the store and decided to walk in themselves.
"People realize that DePauw does a lot of cool stuff for Greencastle," Watson said, holding a half-full bottle of orange Izzy. "I hope it's not just for show; that [DePauw] isn't just trying to make money. It's weirding me out, but I like it."
Starbucks is independently owned, and the building is leased by DePauw for the next 15 years with an option to keep the lease for 45 years total.
Bob Evans grew up in Greencastle, and his father was a professor at DePauw University. While Evans grew up in Greencastle he said the relationship was much better between the university and the town. He left to work in Indianapolis for 15 years, but returned to the city and has lived here since.
"My father knew the garbage man. People were in Kiwanis together," Evans said. "But in the 60s the relationship started to drift apart."
Evans is excited for the common space.
"The more the students mingle, the more the faculty mingles, that's what builds a strong community," Evans said.
Instrumental music descends from overhead speakers. Baristas rush to fill coffee orders. Black and white photos hang on the wall.
"There's something about conversation in a coffee shop," Brad Kelsheimer, vice president of finance at DePauw said. "It's a welcoming space."
Seniors Paul Dugdale and Kendall Cochran walked into Starbucks. They got into the six-person line and waited to place their order. Dugdale said he plans on going to Starbucks once a day.
"Actually, I probably will since it's not too far," Dougdale said. "The coffee is reasonably priced."
Cochran wasn't as enthusiastic.
"I have a coffee maker at my house, so I probably won't come as much," she said.
Kelsheimer said that Starbucks plans to host many events in the shop: book clubs, children's events centered around books and acoustic guitar performances from students in DePauw's School of Music.
"It really is an asset economically - not just confined to campus, [Starbucks] has some real potential in the community," Kelsheimer said.
An estimated 40 or 50 thousand people pass through DePauw's campus each year. Evans hopes Starbucks draws people downtown and in turn help out other local businesses on the square.
"We wouldn't have gotten Starbucks if we didn't have DePauw," Evans said.