Neighborhood news: Irvine Contemporary to close, Azi's gets a new owner

Here's a couple of news items to pass along:

Azi's Cafe in Shaw is getting a new owner. (Initial reports that it was closing ended up not being correct.) Azi, the owner, sold the business--but the coffee shop/cafe concept will remain. It's unclear whether the name will remain the same, since Azi will no longer be involved--although for now that seems to be the case.



Those of you who have been in tne neighborhood longer than a couple of years will remember Azi's as one of the businesses that contributed towards changing perceptions of Shaw. While the always-smiling Azi will be missed, it's great that the coffee shop will remain.

In other not-so-good news, 14th Street is losing another one of its galleries. From Borderstan, Irvine Contemporary gallery owner Martin Irvine has announced that he will be relocating his gallery from 14th Street to an as-yet-undisclosed location. The gallery will close following the closing of the Artist Tribute Exhibition show, which is set to open on July 23.

The closing of Irvine represents yet another blow to the 14th Street arts scene, which in the past couple of years has also seen the loss of the Randall Scott Gallery and G Fine Arts. Other arts-related businesses--such as jazz club HR-57--have also left the neighborhood in search of cheaper rents elsewhere. And while the ANC2F arts overlay committee made recommendations two years ago for steps the city could take to help retain arts-related businesses in the neighborhood, few tangible results have come out of it aside from last year's controversial banner campaign.