“However, if a new monument is to be in honor of some person or family, I believe the answer is obvious: the Vanderbilts.”
Tag: Pack Square
Showing 1-21 of 44 results
Council to vote on Pack Square Vision Plan
After months of planning and community engagement forums, Asheville City Council is set to vote on the renovation plans for Pack Square Plaza at its Tuesday, Sept. 26 meeting. The plan has 10 main areas of focus, including creating new spaces for civic engagement and expression, repositioning the elevated lawn and redesigning South Market Street as an active cultural corridor to The Block.
The monumental toppling of Zeb Vance
“Instead, perhaps Asheville and Buncombe County should follow the British model of ‘retaining and explaining’ controversial monuments and statuary.”
Pack Square revitalization has been a constant for decades
For decades, officials have been looking for ways to revitalize historic Pack Square in the heart of downtown Asheville. With yet another reimagining under way, we take a look back at key some of the key changes that have transformed the city center since the 1960s.
Around Town: Flat Rock Playhouse presents ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’
The Flat Rock Playhouse presents a live action take on “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Plus, local artists address housing crisis with Pack Square sculpture, singer-songwriter Andrew Wakefield releases a new single and Tyger Tyger presents a new exhibition.
Letter: Look beyond past in plans for Pack Square
“As city and county governments get past the current legal obstructions to removing the remnants, they consider a repurposing of Pack Square that focuses on the present and the future, not just the past.”
Letter: Asheville’s 21st-century monument
“I think the monument should celebrate protest.”
Letter: The ‘story’ Pack Square could tell
“The final piece in the ‘anywhere USA aesthetic’ has concluded with the dismantling of a time capsule dressed in ancient Egyptian fashion at Pack Square, done with such haste it’s partial and in legal limbo.”
Letter: Additions to obelisk could tell a story
“Displaying chains and manacles on the sides of the monument would be a similar thought-provoker. To explain the sight would be to consider our local history of slavery and convict labor.”
Letter: A five-letter word for reconciliation
“My proposal is to rename the shaft of stone on Pack Square as Peace Monument.”
Letter: Support solutions for climate change
“This is a pivotal moment to speak out about the climate crisis. Elected leaders need to understand there is a growing groundswell of support for climate solutions.”
Confederates at Calvary
Last month marked the 400th anniversary of the introduction of slavery to North America, triggering a new round of national soul-searching about human bondage and its complex legacy. And closer to home, Lost Cause-era monuments to Confederate figures at Calvary Episcopal Church in Fletcher also raise significant questions about the country’s troubled history and this region’s place in it.
Small bites: Asheville VeganFest
Asheville VeganFest returns under new leadership. Also: French Broad Chocolate’s Cookies & Creamery celebrates its grand opening; The Block Off Biltmore hosts a hemp food challenge; the 8th annual International Honey Tasting Competition returns; and more.
Aiming for early 2019 completion, hotelier offers early glimpse of the Arras hotel and residences
Hotelier John McKibbon predicts the massive 18-story project, which is filling the empty shell of the former BB&T building on Pack Square, will be complete by the end of March next year.
Letter: The faux snowflake of Pack Square
“How did Asheville get duped by a ‘snowflake imposter’?!”
A mystery in-deed: Who owns Pack Square?
Pack Square lies at the center of Asheville’s sense of itself as a city, but recent attention to the area — and the monuments to Confederate figures located there — has highlighted a curious anomaly of history and law: No one can say for sure who owns the piece of land where the Vance Monument sits.
Letter: Room for everyone to counter racist fascists
“When police corral protesters behind their lines and cars, they are saying to the flag-waving, overly compensating, engine-revers that the protesters are the problem, to be caged in. They give space for the Trump trucks to own the streets.”
Letter: Environmental protest deserved coverage
“I know there is an element in our area which hopes to eliminate the voices of the people. Yet I would have thought the news media would acknowledge such a large gathering.”
Tuesday History: The Will Harris murders, part II
We continue with the 1906 coverage of the Will Harris murders, as reported by the The Asheville Gazette News. This week’s post begins at Pack Square. It is near midnight on Nov. 13, 1906. At the time, Will Harris has already killed three citizens and a police officer. Patrolman Bailey is seeking additional help against the gunman. […]
Tuesday History: Pack Square…back when it was Court Square
“I remember Asheville in the days when the Courthouse occupied the Square, centered about the Vance Monument,” writes Edwin Bedford Jeffress.
Folkmoot parade through Pack Square
As part of its finale weekend, Folkmoot’s dance troupes paraded through downtown Asheville and gave short performances at Pack Square. Read more about the folk dance and cultural festival here.
