Asheville Citizen-Times
By Mark Bennett:
Pressure from city government is pushing Colburn Earth Science Museum out of Pack Place to a destination as yet unknown, a move that in turn may help trigger a realignment of the governing structure of the cultural institution at the center of the city.
The Pack Place building, which the city owns, and its two remaining tenants — Asheville Art Museum and Diana Wortham Theatre — are not going anywhere.
But city government’s move to lease space in the building directly to those two nonprofits may lead to the extinction of a third: the nonprofit set up 24 years ago to run Pack Place.
That nonprofit, which shares its name with the building, has no other significant function. It leases the entire building from the city, and its tenants pay no rent. Buncombe County pays for operation of the city-owned building, and the city has paid for some maintenance.
But Pack Place’s current lease with the city expires May 31.
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