Letter: Repurposing the Vance Monument

Graphic by Lori Deaton

While everyone is focused on the Vance Monument, no one is talking about the even more obnoxious monstrosity directly across the street. The former BB&T building is going to be the most visible monument to commercialism and greed in this town. Why weren’t the developers forced to remove a few floors to make the building more appropriate to human scale?

In that vein, here is my idea for the Vance Monument: Have a local sculptor create a giant hand at the base; fingers folded to create the impression that the obelisk is a raised middle finger. And be sure it is oriented in the direction of City Council. This will be a historic reminder of how they have sold out this city to corporate, and apparently, their own greed.

— Ron Greenberg
Weaverville

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.

3 thoughts on “Letter: Repurposing the Vance Monument

  1. Brandon Van Every

    Perhaps people can recognize the formal aesthetic value of the obelisk, being a nice piece of stone to look at, as opposed to its historical significance. In that vein, I really wouldn’t mind seeing the prominent letters VANCE removed from the thing. I don’t have a particular reason to care about or glorify him. I wouldn’t miss him. I didn’t even have any idea who he was until the hubbub about how awful he was supposed to have been. I wouldn’t mind a plaque near the monument saying, “This was originally built to honor Vance, who did such-and-such. In 201x the monument was repurposed as the Asheville Obelisk,” or whatever catchy name any of you can think up.

  2. Deplorable Infidel

    Simply change it to memorialize the millions of babies killed and sold by Planned Parenthood which would be a amazing demonstration across the world…

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.