Press release from Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County:
Dogwood Health Trust Grant Announcement
We are thrilled to announce that Dogwood Health Trust has awarded PSABC with a $134,050 grant for the planning and design phase of the preservation and rehabilitation of Cappadocia Church!
PSABC purchased Cappadocia Church and the home at 32 Grail Street in January of 2022, saving them from demolition. Cappadocia no longer has an active congregation but is an important landmark in the East End Valley Street Neighborhood. In close partnership with the neighborhood, PSABC has worked to find new life for this charming little church. From the very beginning, affordable housing has been the most desired solution. While we know how to preserve a building, we needed help on the affordable housing front and we found that in our partnership with the Asheville Buncombe Community Land Trust (ABCLT).
Our long term goal is to preserve and rehabilitate both the church and the home, place permanent protections on the properties through preservation easements and then sell them to ABCLT who will make them permanently affordable. This goal of course comes with a number of challenges!
In January of this year, we used the Dogwood Health Trust funds to hire Chip Howell of Native Forms Architecture to complete architectural services and project manage the adaptive reuse of Cappadocia Church. He assembled a team of civil, structural, plumbing, fire protection, mechanical, and electrical engineers to complete the project. Currently this team is in the preliminary planning phase and by the end of this year we hope to have a final plan set.
We are so incredibly thankful to Dogwood Health Trust for their support of this phase of the project. We look forward to sharing our plans with you as the design process progresses.
Congratulations to our 2023 Griffin Award Winners!
We had a wonderful night celebrating these worthy preservation projects!
Rehabilitation – Applewood Manor (62 Cumberland Circle)
Rehabilitation – 78 Linden Avenue
Rehabilitation – 83 W. Chestnut Street
Rehabilitation – Tall John’s (152 Montford Avenue)
Rehabilitation – 162 W. Chestnut Street
Rehabilitation – Metro Wines (169 Charlotte Street)
Rehabilitation – 191 Murdock Avenue
Rehabilitation – 192 Cherokee Road
Rehabilitation – 265 Cumberland Avenue
Rehabilitation – McLeod Hall
Adaptive Re-Use – Marquee (36 Foundy Street)
InFill Construction – 281 Pearson Drive
Research, Publication, and Education – George W Gibson Sr / South Asheville History Interpretive Sign
Preservation – Jennifer CatheyAnd Congratulations to Dale Slusser for receiving the Historic Resources Champion Award!
Go to our YouTube Channel (PreserveAsheville) to watch
videos on each winning project!A Superior Court Win!
The Montreat Stewards are very pleased to learn that they have won the appeal in the Buncombe County Superior Court. The judge, Peter Knight, is reversing the decision by the Montreat Board of Adjustment, thus revoking the permit to build a hotel on the lot in Montreat.
“This is a major win, and we are so grateful,” said Priscilla Hayner, the spokesperson for the Stewards. “We are grateful both for the judicial process that has provided an independent forum to review the case, and for the extraordinary community support over the last two years that has led to this. We are so thankful to the many hundreds of active supporters who have been part of this effort, including the excellent support and expertise provided by PSABC.”
The Stewards argued that this proposed hotel — 40,000 square feet with an underground parking garage — violated numerous requirements set out in the Montreat Zoning Ordinance. The BoA hearing also violated basic due process requirements. It would require the demolition of three historic lodges, and the runoff and erosion would threaten the health of Flat Creek.
Judge Knight is expected to release his written decision in early to mid June, and we will then see the exact reasoning behind his decision.
Unfortunately, this news comes as the MRA has started work disassembling parts of the three historic structures. In a recent interview with the Asheville Citizen Times, the MRA’s Vice President for Sales, Marketing and Communication said “The work we have done at the site is to prepare the lodges for eventual demolition,” and “There are no plans to use Galax or either of the other two lodges going forward.” In light of this decision, we urge to the MRA to reconsider a rehabilitation of the existing building.
In the meantime, PSABC has been a close partner to the Stewards throughout the last two years, and we join them in marking and celebrating this important win.
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