The blighted property at 91 Riverside Dr., site of a recent homicide, has been purchased by the city and will likely soon be torn down.
Earlier this week, the West End/Clingman Avenue neighborhood association wrote Asheville City Council, asking for attention to the abandoned property. From the letter:
This particular building is a public safety hazard, has recently been host to numerous violent incidents, is a significant drain on public resources, and represents blight on the many, many years of hard and committed work that neighbors, business owners, and the City of Asheville have invested into making this area a safe and special place.
An Ice Plant/Ice Factory/Ice House building photoset from Asheville photographer zen Sutherland:
6 Comments
[…] Backstory here. […]
There are affordable studio spaces being developed in the district with more on the way. I’m all about green building but honestly this space seems to break all codes & is so dilapidated and contaminated it needs to be torn down – make room for other opportunities. It wouldn’t economically make any sense for the city to retrofit the building and turn it into studio spaces.
Tearing it down though and making room for new development is what will most likely happen. I agree that a good compromise for historical recognition of the past is to leave the smokestack if feasible. So much of the district’s historic iconography was lost in the fire that it would be a shame to tear this and the livestock building down as the same time and leave nothing that remarks on this history of the space and place.
Tear down that old eyesore and build some nice condos!
Don’t demolish, remodel, there are plenty of artists that would love to be in this area that can not because no space left. People are murdered at all locations, do you want to demolish those locations? Be smart, with the cost of demolition, the city could remodel and make money on rent .
PLEASE leave the smokestack intact! This should be given the utmost consideration as the River Arts develops. Let’s not forget the District’s roots and the impact of these historic sightlines!
Hey City council! Take the building. Leave the Smokestack! That’s fantastic brick work and “historical fabric”.