Anarchists relocate in Lawrence

By Carolyn Szczepanski in Out & About, Picket Lines

Fri., Mar. 6 2009 @ 8:00AM

So the bad news first: No longer will punk shows, pancake breakfasts and movie screenings have their own venue at the back of the Solidarity Center.

The good news: Kansas' only infoshop is moving closer to the action in downtown Lawrence.

The best news: Supporters shouldn't be getting nearly as many frantic emails suggesting the gathering spot is in imminent danger of closing its doors.

The radical library, event venue and activist hang-out has been through a number of incarnations. First established in 2001 within the Mother Earth Collective house on Tennessee Street, the Solidarity Revolutionary Center and Radical Library had two other commercial locations in downtown Lawrence before settling at its current post on the south end of Massachusetts Street in 2006. But the rent was $1,800 per month, resulting in frequent mass-email pleas for donations to make the payments.

Another move will hopefully change that.

On March 15, the Solidarity Center is relocating half-a-mile up the road to a spot right next to Henry's Coffeeshop. Yeah, it's smaller than the old digs and there's no space for a separate event space. "But the move will save us over $7,500 a year and will put us in a better trafficked location in a nicer building with wood floors and well laid-out rooms," says volunteer Dave Strano.

Before it's full of books and zines and prospective revolutionaries, check out the new space at 13 East 8th Street during a dance party fundraiser tonight at 9. For a final fling at the old location, there's a show featuring Pile of Dismemberment, No Master and Multitude at 8 p.m. March 14. Then all hands on deck to move computer equipment, countless pamphlets and 4,000 volumes on March 15.