Old naval reserve center demolished

Jason Sandford

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

1

The naval reserve center that stood on a hill over Merrimon Avenue for nearly 60 years has been demolished.

Two years ago, the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commisson deemed the facility obsolete. The building has pretty much been in limbo ever since, but nobody really kept up with what was happening to the property.

Last week, demolition crews moved in, much to the surprise of neighbors who live in posh North Asheville villas right nearby. Heavy equipment reduced the reserve center to a pile of rubble that’s now being cleaned up.

Why be concerned about the old place? Here’s some good background from a 2005 MountainXpress story:

The Asheville center drills highly trained hospital-battalion reservists as well as a construction battalion of Seabees, several of whom recently returned from duty in Iraq. Other reservists serve in assault-craft and small-boat units.

The center is also the military ID-card station for Western North Carolina. That spells inconvenience for several thousand retired service men and women in the area, who’ll be forced to drive down the mountain to Greenville every four years for a new card if they hope to use any base facilities or be admitted to VA hospitals.

While the direct economic impact of closing the center may be relatively minor, the loss of the facility will be felt in other ways as well. It’s an unwritten rule that reserve centers should try to integrate into the community and serve it. The Asheville center, for instance, hosts a Christmas party each year for a local orphanage, notes Lamberson. And at the request of Asheville City Council member Carl Mumpower, the local Seabees have built a 10-foot-high, 125-yard-long fence between the Deaverview Apartments public-housing complex and the adjoining woods to help stem drug traffic. Mumpower says the Seabees also constructed a fence around the basketball courts at the Klondike Apartments public-housing development, and a bus shelter at the Pisgah View Apartments.

What’s the future for the prime real estate? Word on the street is that the city has the property and will build a new fire station there. The North Asheville fire station sits right across the road from the old naval reserve property, so it would make sense, but we haven’t confirmed this information.

All we can say is we’ll miss this relic from the Cold War.