Letter: Is this the city centerpiece we want?

Graphic by Lori Deaton

[Regarding “A Dark Cloud: Downtown Dodged a Mall, but Substation Now Looms,” Aug. 10, Xpress, and “Update on City of Asheville and Duke Energy Partnership to Identify a Suitable Site for Duke Energy Rebuild of Critical Power Infrastructure in Downtown Asheville,” Sept. 16, Xpress website:]

So this city/area that gets its tourists from its mountain beauty is going to have a new landmark in its center?

Trees, etc., give way to a maze of “electric hardware”? How creative … not! But surely it will draw tourists. Who created this idea? Maybe it wasn’t “created” but “sold” to Council members.

— Emily L. Cooper
Asheville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

7 thoughts on “Letter: Is this the city centerpiece we want?

  1. JS

    Downtown Asheville isn’t the mountains…it’s a city center. It should have dense, mixed development that includes housing, as well as a power station to keep it all running for decades to come.

    • El Gordito

      We can put the power station somewhere else. They have this crazy technology called “wire”. I’m sure we can find someone willing to set one up to their pig farm.

  2. Grant Millin

    If someone would look into why a Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) substation hasn’t been drawn up for the Rankin site… and those plans were made public.. there might be a way to visualize high quality infrastructure that may not look like a theme park scale jungle gym. Preposterous state of affairs here in Asheville as is… once again.

    • Mister Blister

      Or we could just put it somewhere else. Downtown is too dense. Plenty of room in South Asheville!

  3. Curious

    ” . . . a new landmark in its center. . . .”
    Is the letter writer implying that the new substation is to be built on the site of the Vance Monument?

    • MV

      That’s actually a good idea. With lots of micro homes above! Imagine the power…

  4. R.G.

    Surely we can figure out how to capture energy from the legs of tourists as they pedal pub cycles around…or perhaps we could redirect some hot air from all the consultants?

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.