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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 05:03 |
By DAVID FORBES
The new Center of Unlimited Possibilities aims to provide a hub for Ashevilleës "alternative" culture ÇƒÓ including businesses, artists and political groups, when it opens on Sept. 1, its founders assert.
"If you look around Asheville, youëll see that thereës places for the religious, the municipal, the African-American and Hispanic communities," Bill Najger, the centerës co-founder said. "Those groups all have their community centers. But thereës never really been a place in Asheville for the alternative types ÇƒÓ for the healers, the builders of green buildings, the artists, the drummers ÇƒÓ the people who think thereës more to reality than meets the eye. We want to really put a place for all that under one roof."
The
center, a non-profit to be located in a 30,000-square-foot space next
to Earth Fare grocery store in West Asheville, will also house the
Chamber of Consciousness ÇƒÓ an organization that claims to be an
alternative to the Chamber of Commerce and space for other groups and
businesses.
"Weëre going to
have a 300-seat auditorium and we hope to house about 50 to 70
businesses, as well as spiritual groups," Nagjer said. "Think of it
like the Woolworth Walk, but with green businesses, green plumbers, all
together in one place."
The center is also intended to serve the artistic community, Anna Walker, who sits on its board of directors, said.
"The purpose of the center is to assist people and allow them to explore the potential of their life," Walker said.
Moreover, Najger
also sees the center as having a role to play in spirituality ÇƒÓ and one
of its first regular events will be grounding ceremonies held every
Sunday, in association with The Wisdom Center, currently located in
Black Mountain.
"It sort of deals with the quantum physics of consciousness," Najger said. "If we create our own reality, we should create big."
Such a process
of creation, he also noted, is what he believes has resulted in the
center being able to move to its current location.
"We thought we
might only have a small place, but we kept seeing that this location
was available," Najger asserted. "Then we found out that plans had been
looked at nine years earlier for locating the center there. But with
the name of the center, thereës a lot of power behind that ÇƒÓ and that
kicked in."
Plans for the center began in earnest around 1999 with a group of about 30 volunteers.
In addition to
offering space for businesses and spiritual groups, the center also has
plans to work with local access station URTV to host a program called
"Something About Asheville," highlighting the cityës diverse culture.
"We aim to have
the program be something like ǃÚAustin City Limits,ë" Najger said. "Only
where that show focuses on music, ours will focus on all kinds of
creative culture going on in this area."
Moreover, he said, the center intends to have more humor in its approach than some New Age groups.
"If you look at
some New Age groups today, theyëve become so dry," Najger asserted.
"Theyëve become a lot like the organized religion they were rebelling
against. We want to have a sense of humor. Laughter heals. Letës have
some fun with it."
Political
activists, are another group that the center will seek to encompass,
though Najger emphasized that it is not political itself.
"Weëll be
welcoming political activists ÇƒÓ people who are questioning authority
and want peace," Najger said. "Thatës just my personal view. Since the
center is a non-profit, it wonët be taking political stances, but weëll
open the center to groups that do."
However, the current location is only meant as the beginning, Najger notes.
"This is just the first prototype," he said. "Youëre going to see us pop up all around."
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