FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

E-mail: azonefundcom@gmail.com
Website: www.a-zone.org

September 1, 2011

DOWN TO THE WIRE: A-ZONE COOP TO PURCHASE 91 ALBERT STREET
Urgent request for financial contributions.

The A-Zone at 91 Albert St. is Winnipeg’s center for progressive thought, community activism, and alternative business models. It has hosted thinkers, activists and writers, such as Naomi Klein, Michael Albert, Chris Hedges, and Judy Rebick. A diversity of tenants, made up of worker cooperatives, small businesses, and activist groups, are working together to secure the purchase of the building, culminating this month with requests for donations and a number of fund-raising events in collaboration with the Winnipeg Radical Bookfair (September 24 - 26, 2011).

Starting in 1995, the Albert Street Autonomous Zone, or the A-Zone, has brought together a diversity of people and interests striving to embody and foster values of anti-oppression, solidarity, and democracy – becoming known locally and internationally as a vital, inspiring site of community organizing for social, economic, and environmental justice. From academic talks to bike repair, the A-Zone provides a critical, cultural space to work towards a better world.

“Although 91 Albert Street is a place of business for many tenants, a large, progressive community has also developed around the building as a place to meet, go for dinner, get bikes repaired, borrow books, see bands play and attend political events. It’s quite an activist hub,” says Chuck Wright, a former worker-owner of Natural Cycle Courier. “I would really like to see this project continue and grow in the hopes that more people get to experience it and adopt this unique model.”

In the autumn of 2009, the tenants of 91 Albert Street were presented with the opportunity to cooperatively own and manage the A-Zone. Natural Cycle, Mondragon Bookstore & Coffeehouse, Winnipeg Copwatch, ParIT, and Boreal Forest Network, among 12 other tenants, have come together to purchase the heritage building in the heart of the Winnipeg’s Exchange District to form a non-profit, democratically-run tenant cooperative. This project is unique in that it will offer commercial and non-commercial space under one roof for the benefit of tenants and local community members alike.

For updates on A-Zone fundraising events or information on how to donate, visit: http://www.a-zone.org/. Support the A-Zone!