Demolishing Old Buildings to Make Way for the New

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by karen cragnolin
on Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The view from the Smoky Park Bridge is about to improve greatly - no more "Blue Buildings" at the river's edge. A new sculpture park will take their place in the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay. This latest river improvement is a result of a grant RiverLink received from the Asheville Merchants Association. D. H. Griffin Salvage Company, is the same recycling compnay helped RiverLink recycle 100% of the cement (estimated to be 100,000 tons) at the old EDACO junkyard on Amboy Road that RiverLink acquired in 2007. This time D. H. Griffin is helping to recycle materials and bring down the "Blue Buildings" - located at 115 1/2 to 119 Riverside Drive. Demolition is expected to be completed by Tuesday March 23, 2010.

According to Karen Cragnolin, executive director of RiverLink, "This has been another wonderful community effort. Local artist Sean Pace led a group of volunteers this past year to recycle materials from the "Blue Buildings" into six new artist studios on the 3rd floor of the Phil Mechanic Building. Habitat for Humaity also retrieved reusbale materials from the 'Blue Buildings" for a future project. We love that so much of the building materials will be reused and kept out of the landfill."

RiverLink board chair, Margie Eblen reported that, "it will be wonderful to see the river with a sculpture garden where those old builings were located. This is another "missing link" that RiverLink has found and rehabilitated in its efforts to make the river and the watershed a destination where everyone can live, work and play. This site is just so visible from the Smoky Park Bridge. It is a great front door to our city and for the river arts district."

Plans for the old "Blue Buildings" space include giving it a name -- "The RiverLink Sculpture Park." RiverLink will be working with volunteers to create attractions like a human sundial, a rock maze, dry stacked rock sculptures and some really creative recycled sculpture art from the trash that RiverLink volunteers and staff pick up along the river. RiverLink's 50 plus Adopt-A-stream Teams find some really crazy things dumped along the river banks - even pink flamingos! Well-known artist Jonas Gerard has also offered to donate a piece of his sculpture for the new park.

A $600,000 federal grant was awarded to the city of Asheville by the Federal Highway Administration to investigate implementation of the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay. The study area for this grant includes the area from Amboy Road north to the Hll Street exit. The city used the grant funds to hire consultants to review right of way issues, greenways, road alignments, Brownfield contamination, archeology and other issues required for future fedral funding under NEPA. Buncombe County, the City of Asheville, CIBO and the Asheville Chamber and RiverLink are each appointing members to a newly formed Riverfront Commission. The new commission is charged with helping to bring attention and resources to the rebirth of the French Broad River corridor. The Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan calls for mixed-use mixed income development patterns along the river corridors that incorporate BMP (Best Management Practices) and storm water retention areas into the development and greenways. Also special attention will be given by the commission and consultants to water quality issues since the French Broad is a drinking water source to over 1 million people.

For more information contact Karen Cragnolin at 231-1392 or at 252-8474, ext 120.

Content Source: www.riverlink.org

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About the Author - karen cragnolin

Contact karen cragnolin:
RiverLink
828-252-8474, ext 110
KAREN@RIVERLINK.ORG
www.riverlink.org

Learn more about karen.