By spring 1998, the Winthrop Street structure currently housing the Spaghetti Club and the Shilla Korean and Japanese Restaurant will be closed for demolition. By winter 1998, a $20 million retail-residential complex will be open for business.

Intercontinental Companies--owner of the five properties in Winthrop Square--will break ground this fall to construct a seven-story building behind Grendel's Den Restaurant, yielding a 10,000 square foot parking area, three floors of retail space and 12 condominium units.

The demolition of the former Holy Cross Armenian Catholic Church and 95 Winthrop Street, home of the Spaghetti Club and Shilla Restaurant, will be necessary to complete the project, as will a 180-degree rotation and move of the second and third floors of the building currently housing Tweeter, Etc.

These floors will then sit atop a newly constructed foundation erected beside Grendel's Den and facing Winthrop Park.

Tweeter, an electronics store, will relocate to the first floor of the Wainwright Bank building because of the project, said Peter Palandjian '87, chair and CEO of Intercontinental.

Palandjian said it is "unlikely" that the Spaghetti Club or Shilla will reestablish their enterprises in the new retail space.

But the future of Grendel's Den Restaurant is unclear as the parties involved have not yet discussed the details of the development project.

Although Sue E. Kuelzer, co-owner of Grendel's, said "we will stay as long as we can," co-owner Herbert Kuelzer said he is prepared to shut the doors of the restaurant on March 4, 1998, citing finances and the prospect of higher rents.

Yet Palandjian said he recognizes that the 26-year-old establishment is a "Square institution" and "would love for Grendel's to stay."

The building of the popular Winthrop Street eatery--once the Pi Eta Speakers Club--will be "preserved and substantially restored," according to Palandjian.

If the building is to be preserved for its historical value, Sue Kuelzer said she hopes the restaurant will also be preserved for its place in the country's heritage.

Kuelzer indicated that her restaurant is not only a long-standing Square tradition and an extended family member of the Harvard community, but is also a legal landmark.

In 1982, Grendel's won a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning a Massachusetts law that gave churches and schools veto power over liquor license issuance within 500 feet of their property.

Both Herbert Kuelzer and Palandjian mentioned their interest in maintaining Grendel's Bar in the basement of the building.

News of the restaurant's potential closing alarmed patrons, some of whom have been circling the eatery's famed salad bar for meals and meals.

"I've been coming here almost once a week for the past few years," said Denny R. Felsner. "I took in the atmosphere, and I was hooked."