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Jason Sandford

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

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Here’s more of what’s going around, including an update on the SoundSpace effort. Here we go:

-Asheville restauranteurs Josiah and Shannon McGaughey have officially closed their Salt & Smoke eatery at Burial Beer. They own Vivian restaurant on Depot Street. Chef Brian Canipelli of Cucina 24 restaurant has announced he’s taking over Burial’s food program.

-Bad Happy Poutine, a new poutine restaurant coming to Merrimon Avenue, has announced that it is planning a grand opening for July 17, though that date is subject to change.

-Green Sage Cafe has pulled construction permits to renovate the former Atlanta Bread Company location on Merrimon Avenue.

-Early Girl restaurant on Wall Street is going to see significant interior renovations mostly centered on the kitchen, but also including ceiling and wall sheetrock repairs.

-The old Rabbit’s Cafe and Motel property on McDowell Street has been officially been acquired by entrepreneurs who plan to turn it into a creative space called SoundSpace, which will include affordable rehearsal space for Asheville bands and musicians and a soul food restaurant. The SoundSpace project is managed and owned two Asheville residents and musicians: Brett Spivey; and Claude Coleman Jr., drummer from the group Ween. The two held a successful crowdfunding campaign and plan to begin building out the project.

Here’s more:

This space will be a few-minutes away from just about all of the city’s music venues that feature the multitudes of touring bands and productions coming through Asheville, and it will serve these venues with a critical functionality that will expand their rosters and enhance their functionality overall, while providing direct support to all music-working travelers coming through Asheville who live, work and rehearse constantly on the road. This space will provide a major boost to the industry of music in Asheville, and thus to the tourism industry as a whole, of which the music industry provides nearly half of its revenue. We are putting Asheville on the map!

This space, will become a community melting pot with it’s soul-food kitchen restoration becoming another new first for the city that folks are even more excited about, that everyone of every class and creed enjoys, and will enjoy together again! But most importantly, this place will become a beacon of pride for the Asheville black community, and we are dedicating its entire development to its important history, and the world-renowned cultural legends that were it’s regular motel guests. It is a history unfolding before us that we are just beginning to scratch the surface of.

It’s murals will be giant portrayals of the supreme richness and accomplishments of a culture long lost. For this, it is of the deepest possible meaning to us. We will do a documentary, and pull and save every archival material we get. We will promote the awareness of this history far and wide, through every channel. The community at large needs this connection – we are all descendants from greatness. The pride welling inside me moves me instantly to tears.

 

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Jason Sandford

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

  • 1

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