Pink tears

I have to admit, I cried a little bit when I saw that the Pink House was gone. After reading the article about the development on Broadway [“Broadway Doubles Down,” July 30] and before writing this letter, I took a little field trip down to my old neighborhood and saw for myself that it was true. The empty hole in the ground was real. I now have a little pink-brick memento of a long-gone friend.

For those of you who have been around for a while, you remember it the way it used to be—before the plywood over the windows and the graffiti on the walls. It was a run-down crap-box of a building then, but the community loved it, especially the vibrant rock-and-roll social gatherings it fostered. Years before that, when I was a kid, I think it was some kind of general store—am I right?

I am reminded of another long-lost rock-and-roll haunt, Vincent’s Ear, from which shows frequently moved down the street to the Pink House for amazing, sometimes-soggy (the Pink House had a moisture problem) after-parties the likes of which are rapidly becoming extinct downtown.

I am not opposed to redeveloping Broadway Corridor. I think there is a lot of need for some new faces and activity along Broadway. I am just sad that the Pink House had to go the way of the backhoe. It was a cool building, and—like it or not—it had some strong Asheville history. Besides, it was not (always) as ugly as your article made it sound.

It seems that developer Kerr’s comment that “the neighborhood was really glad to see that go” does not hold true for all of us. It could have made an interesting redevelopment project, but now it looks like it will be a future parking lot for phase-two development.

— Lela Stephens
Asheville