Asheville News

Bankruptcy report: The Health Adventure files for Chapter 11 reorgantization; Park Ridge Hospital steps in to assist

Jason Sandford March 30, 2011

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

This is the construction site of Momentum, the Health Adventure’s planned multi-million-dollar children’s health and science museum, which has been put on hold indefinitely after Health Adventure officials announced they had filed for bankruptcy (read the filing here). The Asheville Citizen-Times has the full story. It should be noted that the Health Adventure at Pack Place remains open.

The project in the Montford community has raised concerns from nearby residents since it was conceived, the newspaper reports. The photo above shows what the Momentum site looked like in summer 2010.

Mike Hunter, who lives across from the site, said he isn’t surprised the project failed.

“I am more scared than anything, who are they going to sell the property to?” he said. “This has kind of always been what we’ve been afraid of, the money wasn’t going to come through and they’d be stuck.”

“Now look at it. It is awful. It’s a sad-looking picture.”

The follow-up story: What does this development mean for the Asheville Art Museum and the Diana Wortham Theatre?

Those organizations, and the Health Adventure, are all currently located in the Pack Place center in downtown Asheville. In the best case scenario, the Health Adventure planned to move out when its Momentum project was complete, allowing the art museum to expand and the theater to make some changes. The art museum has already started raising the millions it needs for its expansion at Pack Place. So how will all that play out?

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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8 Comments

Murphy March 31, 2011

…. and another thing …..

If the 8 Million that was raised (and subsequently spent) was supposed to be funding for the new facility, then it seems to me that laws may have been broken here …. in the CTY it is stated that employees were paid from these funds as well … maybe the DA should get involved.

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Contractors March 31, 2011

Another problem is that The Health Adventure owes a lot of local contractors and suppliers money for the work that they already did on the Momentum project. By filing Chapter 11 these contractors are going to get stuck with that debt, which could put some of these guys out of business.

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Asheville Reader March 30, 2011

This is also bad news for the proposed Performance Center.

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Murphy March 30, 2011

While I have no plans to tie myself to a tree …. it does seem a little bass-akwards for the City to allow the clear cutting of a site such as this when there was no where near the money to even begin construction of the project.

"Someone" in planning or development needs to use this case as an example and put into motion the necessary regulations to prevent this from happening again.

They should at least make them plant grass or something on the site to prevent further erosion and to just make it look better …..

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SuckItMcGee March 30, 2011

Any ideas out there on what should be put here instead?

Affordable (NOT low-income) housing?

Another greenway/park?

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Nate March 30, 2011

The Art Museum wants to expand, but it doesn't want to (and can't, and shouldn't) expand enough to fill that gigantic Momentum site. Now that it's already been clear cut and partially landscaped, I'd say it's almost inevitable that some major residential or retail project goes in there.

And can anyone explain what exactly Park Ridge Health *gets* for their $500,000 investment in The Health Adventure? Is it going to displace the charitable health education and outreach work the hospital is already doing? Start charging more money and turn it into a source of income for the hospital?

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ben March 30, 2011

This really is awful. Health Adventure is a great place for families to visit, but as soon as Momentum broke news of the site clearing on Broadway, the story took a sad turn. There is NO WAY the land clearing on Broadway in the Montford area should have been allowed to happen. The unrealistic scale of the Momentum and the outrageous funding required doomed it from the start. How was clear cutting the land allowed? I think there need to be answers.

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Dusty March 30, 2011

Art museum meet Momentum site….Momentum site meet art museum.

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