Asheville News

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Asheville wants to demolish two buildings on The Block downtown

Jason Sandford June 4, 2009

Jason Sandford

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

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Photo by Jason Sandford

Press release here. This is interesting, and the first I’ve heard of such:

The South Pack Square Redevelopment Committee will meet on Monday, June 8, at 5:00 PM, at the YMI Auditorium, 39 South Market Street in downtown Asheville. The item of discussion will be recently-received demolition applications for two buildings located at 40 South Spruce Street and 51 South Market Street owned by the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The buildings are located in the neighborhood officially designated by City Council in 1991 as the South Pack Square Redevelopment Area and included in the Eagle/Market Façade Design Guidebook, adopted in 1993.

The Downtown Commission will consider these applications for demolition on June 12, 2009. The Downtown Commission considers the demolition of any structure larger than 5,000 square feet as a major work.

Jason Sandford

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

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6 Comments

revivalstudio June 8, 2009

As whistler points out both of these buildings are historically significant and offer great potential for adaptive reuse. There are in a prime location, less than 2 blocks to city/county plaza and 2 blocks to Biltmore Ave. So many buidings in this once-thriving historically African American business district have been lost to urban renewal and redevelopment that it would be a shame to lose any more. However, I bet Mt. Zion has already been approached by investors wanting to purchase these buildings several times over. My guess is that Mt. Zion wants to keep the land.

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xingxang June 5, 2009

Alarming – Photo used makes it seem like the church is the one designated for demo.

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whistler June 5, 2009

The buildings in question are part of Asheville’s downtown historic district. They probably date to the 1910s or so, and were part of the Asheville Supply and Foundry Complex. One of the foundry buildings (not slated for demolition) sits right beside the YMI building and faces Eagle Street. The two buildings slated for demolition sit behind YMI. They are large, brick, multi-story industrial buildings with great reuse potential for offices or housing, with space for a courtyard ir new construction in between. The Foundry supplied Asheville’s 1920s building boom. Loosing the buildings would be a strike against sustainibility, and would leave a hole in The Block — a neighborhood rich in history and culture.

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Ashevillian June 4, 2009

Hey Ash,

I just googled and looked at the Street View feature for these addresses and they do not appear to even be adjacent to the Church (which I know wasn’t implied).
-40 S Spruce seems like it doesn’t even have a building on it (it shows me the building that Black Dog wants to tear down) ….
-and the other seems to be a building behind the YMI.

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Ash June 4, 2009

Ashevillian, I’m not sure of the historic significance. If they are the buildings I’m thinking of, they’re basically abandoned and haven’t been used for anything in years.

If they’re tearing them down, I’m guessing they want to build something new in their place.

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Ashevillian June 4, 2009

Oh boy!

Let’s see if there is as much outcry from the ant-development crowd over these demolitions …. any idea how old , or what historical value, these 2 spots hold?

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