ADC Pedestrian Bridge Swings into Place

 crazy amazing feat of engineering... to move something that weights 20,000 lbs and is 40 feet long by 16 feet wide with a tolerance of inches for where it needs to land! all went without a hitch! Thank You!  Come see for yourself under the Haywood Road Bridge in the River Arts District & Jean Webb Park!

New Belgium Brewery Moves Forward

At the meeting of the NBB Neighborhood Leadership Roundtable, General Manager Jay Richardson & Project Manager Jim Spencer gave an overview of the timetable for the Brewery build out thru 2016.  COA Craven Street Improvement Project Coordinator, McCray Coates informed that the complete streets build out is expected to happen starting this winter thru the end of 2014 and will be a well coordinated dance between NBB & COA, with meetings already happening every week.  To stay informed, click on "subscribe via email" at NBB Asheville.

CRAVEN STREET IMPROVEMENTS

The Craven Street Infrastructure Project, being implemented by the City of Asheville as part of the New Belgium Brewery East Coast Expansion, includes a roadway realignment @ Hazel Mill Road, Emma Road & Craven Street, as well as new complete streets design for all of Craven Street.  A complete street includes sidewalks, bike lanes, on street parking, street trees & storm water amenities.  There will is also a section of greenway that is included in this project on the west bank of the French Broad River from just south of the Haywood Road Bridge up to the Craven Street Bridge.  In addition, there will be two parking lots just north of Craven Street, on Buncombe County owned property that used to house the Buncombe County Schools Maintenance Facility.  These parking lots will be for use by the public when visiting New Belgium or the new greenway.

In Fall 2013, the Metropolitan Sewerage District completed its infrastructure improvements @ Hazel Mill Road.  Right of Way agreements are being worked out & construction on Craven Street is scheduled to start late Spring 2014.  Contact McCray Coates @ the COA via the NBB portal & click on questions or concern for contact info.

AARRC rides the Craggy Mountain Line

 Thanks to the generosity of Rocky Hollifield and his group of dedicated volunteers, the AARRC was carried along an interesting perspective of the Riverfront in Woodfin, NC, via the Craggy Mountain Rail Line.  Woodfin has some lovely riverfront parks as well as an amazing small business incubator started by Bill Goacher & friends, who also helped nurture the River Arts District in Asheville, NC.  

We passed the old "Crusher" plant that the Town of Woodfin has successfully started to remediate with the help of NC DENR & Asheville Greenworks volunteers... was the largest tire dump in WNC

We stopped on the parcel of property donated to the Town of Woodfin by the Silver Family of Silverline Plastics in 2011.  The Town of Woodfin is hosting a planning session for its newest riverfront park on Monday, October 28, 2013 from 6:30 to 8pm @ the Woodfin Town hall @ 90 Elk Mountain Road.  Please come join in the conversation!

Riverside Drive Development Plan Continues

The Riverside Drive Development Plan team held a very well attended 2nd public meeting on Tuesday, August 20, 2013 @ Pink Dog Creative.  Big Thanks to all who came and offered opinions! The Heritage Directions team followed up with a 1 1/2 day internal charette, focusing on the economy of the plan as well as integrating what was shared on tuesday.  Look forward to a number of presentations to RADBA, RADA, AARRC, Asheville on Bikes & RDDRC during the month of September 2013, followed by one more public meeting in October 2013.

Root Ball @ GreenWorks

 Welcome to the inaugural event @ 233/318 Riverside Drive... GreenWorks' Root Ball... as you can see, a very fun & delicious time was had by all!  Big Thanks go to Cindy Conner, GreenWorks Board Chair as well as Matt Logan & Kristie Quinn for making this event & place so very special!

french broad river keeper Hartwell Carson

GO Kitchen Ready @ work!

the joint is jumpin'!

Smoky Park Supper Club @ 233 Riverside Drive

Check out this informative article about the Smoky Park Supper Club, Asheville Greenworks & The Iron Circus @ 233 Riverside Drive... Matt Logan & Kristie Quinn are assembling an amazing group together for the benefit of our community! Thanks!!

ADC Summer Interns Build a Bridge

The Asheville Design Center's Summer Intern Design Build Studio.... 10 interns, two instructors, 10 weeks will yield a bridge between Jean Webb Park & 14 Riverside Drive. Special Thanks go to Chris Joyell of ADC & to Luke Perry for their amazing work to make the French Broad Riverfront a better place to be! Additional Thanks! to Sherwin Williams for donating paint, McGee Metal Fabricating (& Peter Sprague for arranging this) for donating some of the steel I beams, Joe Ransmeier & Mike Powell for tree removal, RADBA & its members, Darren Green & Pattiy Torno for the $$ donations & too many more to name!

River District Speak Up

159 Riverside Cotton Mill Ruins Demolition

The one of the two remaining ruins of the old Asheville Cotton Company, circa 1900, is being demolished this week by DH Griffin & Co.  This action helps keep the ball rolling forward in terms of cleaning up our riverfront, making way for what comes next.

Strive Not To Drive Leadership Ride

Very special thanks to Asheville On Bikes for this fun event!! and for including the AVLriverfront as part of the conversation! We were fortunate to have Mayor Terry Bellamy, Vice Mayor Esther Manheimer, City Council members Gordon Smith, Cecil Bothwell & Mark Hunt, Buncombe County Chair David Gantt & County Commissioner Brownie Newman as well as City Manager Gary Jackson, Multi Modal Director, Cathy Ball & many more city staff & community leaders riding with us.

Dave Steel Slated for Live/Work Condos & Apartments

Announced Today!! 200+ apartment/live/work/mixed use development to happen on the Dave Steel property in the heart of the River Arts District by local developer, Harry Pilos ... $30 to $40 million dollar project expected to take 3 years! Special Thanks to MHO for making this area not so scary for the bankers & all the River Arts District Artists for making this such a great place that a project like this could even begin to happen!

French Broad River @ 10 Feet

a few photos of the French Broad River @ ~ 10 Feet on May 6, 2013

Regional riverfront redevelopment factors prominently in the City of Asheville's Economic & Community Development Initiative.  The approach focuses on aligning partners around mixed-use neighborhoods such as the River Arts District, a vibrant downtown & robust job growth.  The strategies include RAD TIP implementation & Riverside Drive Strategic Planning.  The funding for this initiative will depend on City of Asheville budget considerations at a time of uncertainty.  The AARRC supports this approach and will continue to work towards these goals.

New Belgium Brewery Updates Online

Demolition of the Old Stockyard property is coming along fast! Crews pulling nails out of lumber, grading & stacking, then trucking it off to be planed, for re-use on site.  Site Up-dates can be found @ New Belgium Asheville.  Expect dirt moving/importing starting soon!

Katuah Market @ Biltmore Station

Katuah Market™ will be opening in late summer of 2013 in the Biltmore Station shopping center in the Biltmore Village area of South Asheville. The Katuah Market™ concept combines an offering of best-of-market local, natural, and organic foods with the convenience and service of a corner grocery store.  With John Swann, one of the founders of Greenlife Grocery, at the helm, we know the focus will be community-based and strongly committed to supporting local food.

Intentional Fires in April 2013

    

 There have been a rash of intentionally set fires... 2 on the Cotton Mill Ruins property @ 159 Riverside Drive.... 2 on New Belgium's site along Craven Street & 2 @ 40 Simpson Street in our River District, as well as 4 others @ various locations in Asheville in the past few months.

     Asheville Fire & Police Departments ask our community to report any suspicious activity to the non emergency # @ 828.255.1110 or to Crimestoppers @828.255.5050. You can also send a tip to APD by texting "APDTIP plus your tip" to 274637 (CRIMES).

    The entire riverfront community is saddened by this useless and dangerous activity.  Johnny Penland's Auction House, an institution on our riverfront for 25 years, was scheduled for demolition & reuse by New Belgium Brewery. The fires of April 5th make that no longer possible. The bad news: 6,000 foot of heart pine flooring as well as other major structural lumber, planned for reuse, on site, to honor this legacy, is gone.  The good news: Dustin Spagnola's tiger mural, commissioned by New Belgium Brewery, while lost, will be re-commissioned.  

     Bradley Barrett of Old World Salvage has a newsletter to inform the community of surplus salvage, being made available to neighbors, at no charge.  Please sign up here if you are interested.

CrossFit Pisgah River Ruckus 2013

CrossFit Pisgah hosts the inaugural River Ruckus a 2-day CrossFit competition to be held on the banks of the French Broad River & up on West Haywood Street in Asheville’s River Arts District on April 6-7, 2013. The event is part of the national Garage Games series and marks the first regional CrossFit competition to be held in the Asheville area.  Both days, there will be 4 workouts that combine movements from various disciplines such as powerlifting, endurance, Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, mobility. 

New Belgium Open House March 7, 2013

AARRC will be representing with info about the River Arts District Transportation Project & the Riverside Drive Strategic Planning process.... do join us!

Riverfront Clean Up

Progress/Duke Energy did their part today, for the French Broad River, by asking Betty Light, tree crew supervisor for Progress, to bring her local (haywood county) crew from Davey Tree Company to pick up litter along the west bank of the French Broad River.  With the help of a couple of front end loaders, a mountain of trash has been removed.  The River Arts District says THANK YOU to this rather large assembly of hands, making quick work, for the benefit of our entire community.