Plummer shares her thoughts on the Young Men’s Institute Cultural Center, which celebrated its 129th birthday Feb. 12.
Tag: The Block
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What’s new in food: Faux Lox Foods launches in Asheville
Vegans and vegetarians craving a lox bagel now have options thanks to Faux Lox Foods. Also: television personality Samantha Brown visits Asheville; Metro Wines hosts its latest tasting; and more!
Q&A with Stephanie Swepson-Twitty, CEO of Eagle Market Streets Development Corp.
The Block, an area that spans Eagle and South Market streets in downtown Asheville, was once home to a vibrant residential and commercial district for Black residents. But between the 1950s and 1980s, Asheville’s urban renewal policies that sought to address allegedly “blighted” areas of the city by removing homes and businesses to make way […]
New Black-owned businesses populate The Block
Over the past year, the addition of such Black-owned businesses as the Noir Collective collaborative shop, Jawbreaking fashion store, Asheville Iridescence Yoga and Sole82 sneaker boutique has suggested a renaissance for the former Black Wall Street. Yet in a rapidly changing city where obstacles for minority entrepreneurs remain rampant, sustaining that growth could prove challenging.
New art project honors The Block
Cleaster Cotton’s latest art project, Going to Market, celebrates the history of The Block.
Petey and Chase by Chesney Goodson
Letter: A stain on this town
“I call foul on the city for engaging in this aggressive, underhanded attempt to further gentrify West Asheville.”
Affordable housing slashed in Eagle Market Place; construction to resume in September
Buncombe County Commissioners approved a rent restructuring for Eagle Market Place that will allow 30 of the 62 units to transition from affordable to work force housing. Developers say the move is necessary to secure funding needed to get the stalled project moving forward again.
County Commissioners to consider rent restructuring at stalled Eagle Market Place development
In its first meeting since approving the county budget in June, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will return to action Tuesday, Aug. 2. Commissioners will consider a rezoning request and whether to allow a decrease in affordable housing units for a mixed-use development. They will also vote on a variety of board appointments. A […]
Letter writer: Make sure African-American viewpoint is heard and honored in redevelopment of The Block
“I don’t know a single thing about the planned development of The Block, but I am convinced that it is time to pause and rethink, and make sure the African-American viewpoint is heard and honored. “
Letter writer: As in South Carolina, demands of marketplace destroy African-Americans’ historical legacy
“Who will know that Eagle/Market Street was once the heart of Black Asheville?”
‘Celebrate the Block’ fundraiser moves to Berry Temple church
Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation and Asheville Lyric Opera have moved the Celebrate the Block Friendraiser to the historic Berry Temple United Methodist Church. The event will feature a performance by gospel singer Audrey DuBois Harris.
Apothecary to close Nov. 1
After operating for 14 months in downtown Asheville, the Apothecary is closing its doors Nov. 1.
Asheville City Council: more agriculture, a festival search, and downtown crime
At tonight’s meeting, Asheville City Council approved new rules allowing urban farming and produce sales throughout the city. Council also approved starting the search for a summer event to replace Bele Chere. On a less optimistic note, the public and city officials discussed increasing issues of crime, policing and homelessness in Asheville’s core.
Eagle Market Place project gets the go-ahead
The Eagle Market Place project, a major affordable housing, commercial and community space development in the heart of downtown’s the Block neighborhood, got the go-ahead for funding from Asheville City Council tonight. The city will contribute $3.3 million to complete the project, and construction is slated to begin in October.
Asheville City Council preview: development for Eagle Street
Tomorrow night, Aug. 27, Asheville City Council will consider grants and a loan from its affordable housing trust fund for a project in the Eagle/Market Street area that includes 62 affordable-housing units along with business and community space. If the new funds are approved, the city’s commitment to the project could total $4.6 million.
Six WNC nonprofits receive economic development grants
Six western North Carolina nonprofits are among 28 state organizations that will share $5.85 million in grants from the N.C. Community Development Initiative over the next three years aiming to spark economic growth and job creation in some of the state’s most distressed areas.
Eagle Market Place project gets $7 million in state funding, will go forward
Leaders from the city of Asheville, Buncombe County, and the Block neighborhood joined together this morning, Aug. 27, to announce that due to $7 million in funding from the state, the Eagle Market Place mixed-use project will move forward. The announcement marks a major step forward in long-awaited redevelopment of the area. (Photos by Bill Rhodes).
Raise for city employees becomes major issue; tax increase narrowly fails
Police and firefighters packed Asheville City Council chambers tonight, demanding a higher raise than the 1 percent set forth in the proposed budget. A suggested property-tax hike to pay for the increase failed 4-3, with Council members asserting that it needed more consideration.
Building demolitions on Spruce and Market streets to move forward
A downtown Asheville church’s plans to tear down two buildings it owns in the city’s historically African-American business district received the final approval Friday morning.
Mount Zion’s demolition of two buildings delayed
An Asheville church’s plans to tear down two old buildings it owns has been delayed for 30 days in hopes of saving the structures. Brink of extinction? Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church wants to demolish two historic buildings it owns on The Block. Havens for vagrants and homeless people, the brick structures are expensive to […]