Two Eastern graduates are opening a new “bar alternative” Friday for students and residents.

Jackson Avenue Coffee Shop, 708 Jackson Ave., is scheduled to open Friday, after being under construction since January. The idea for the shop began when owners Ryan and Dulcy Dawson lived in Charleston and felt it would provide a bar alternative for students.

“We wanted to do it for five years,” Ryan Dawson said Wednesday. “We want to aim towards the community but also towards students.”

The coffee shop’s speciality will be their full coffee bar and desserts, but Dawson said they will also offer bagels, muffins, biscottis, scones and, for lunch, sandwiches.

In addition, the shop has couches, chessboards and Dawson said a fireplace is being built to make the atmosphere, “very relaxed, very comfortable and inviting.

“We want people to come in here and whether they get one cup of coffee or five, they can stay as long as they want,” he said. “They can study or whatever.”

Dawson said the couple also intends to host poetry readings and acoustic performances in the shop.

No performances will be scheduled until next semester, but people who want to play are welcome to bring in lyrics to the shop and set up a show.

Despite its location on the Square, Dawson is confident students will come to the new shop because of the Panther Express. Also, Dawson said because many students are from the Chicagoland area, they are used to traveling 10 minutes to get a cup of coffee.

Dawson said they hope to get the crowd that does not want to go bars or who can’t drive to Champaign.

A health inspector is scheduled to be at the shop Thursday, and depending on how much work will need to be completed thereafter, Dawson said the shop will be ready to open at 7 a.m. or 2 p.m. on Friday.

“We’ll be open on Friday,” he said.

Normal business hours for Jackson Avenue Coffee Shop will be 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays and closed on Sundays.