Asheville seeks 'community facilitator' to bridge gap between historic Block and downtown
ASHEVILLE - As part of a $3 million grant to reshape Pack Square Plaza and the gateway to the Block, the historic center of Asheville's Black business and cultural district, the city is in search of a community facilitator who will lead a multi-year planning, engagement and implementation effort.
Dubbed "Boosting the Block," the project is part of the Pack Square Plaza Vision Plan, a 47-page document intended to reimagine the future of a central downtown Asheville plaza, once home to a controversial confederate obelisk, and for decades a gathering space for free speech, protest and festivals.
The city put out a request for proposals for the facilitator in November. Submission deadline is Dec. 11.
The "Boosting the Block" project is one of three projects in the overall scope of work to be funded by the Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project grant, implementing components of the vision plan.
'A disconnect'
According to the RFP's advertisement, the facilitator ― an individual or a team ― would be responsible for managing a community development and planning process, which includes the design and implementation of a "placemaking project" and/or programming to integrate the district's art, culture and history.
They would work closely with the city's project leads, as well as the existing business district association, The Block Collaborative, which represents businesses and stakeholders along Eagle and South Market streets, like the YMI Cultural Center, one of the oldest Black cultural centers in the country; LEAF Global Arts; the Foundry Hotel; 55 South Market Street, a condominium development; Cats at Play Café; Mt. Zion Church; JD Ellison & Company, a communications agency; and more.
Among the community members involved is alexandria monque ravenel (spelled all lowercase), co-owner of the Noir Collective and managing and equity director with the YMI.
YMI lawsuit: Ex-director suing Asheville Black cultural center for $360K in back pay: no embezzlement
“The Block Collaborative has been meeting for years to bring more attention and notice back to this area," she said, calling it the "first established African American neighborhood" as part of East End/Valley Street prior to urban renewal. "It’s highly gentrified and still doesn’t get the kind of attention that businesses here, like the YMI, Noir Collective, JD Ellison and LEAF could actually get."
In order to make Pack Square Plaza a more inclusive place, she said, efforts must include the Block.
As written in the vision plan, the intent is to create a gateway and "cultural corridor" to better connect Pack Square Plaza and the Block, specifically along South Market Street, which the plan says could "serve as a critical link to improve physical, social and mental connections to the entire area."
As the urban streetscape is currently designed, monque ravenel said there is a "disconnect" between the Block and everything else.
She described standing near Pack Square Plaza, looking down South Market Street, toward the YMI. The road runs parallel to the city's Municipal Building, which houses the fire and police department headquarters. The plan described the area as "more of a parking lot than a street," with vehicles flanking the road at 45- and 90-degree angles along both sides, plus a parking deck and narrow sidewalks.
And at the top of Biltmore Avenue, a busy restaurant and shopping corridor, looking down Eagle Street, "it looks like an alleyway," she said.
In part, it comes down to lighting and trees, to benches, murals and other "creative wayfinding" techniques, said the plan, like markers, public art, signage and new landscaping.
“When you’re walking along Biltmore and its bustling all the time, you can walk one block over and there’s not a lot of activity … although there are businesses that are growing here," she said. Part of boosting the block is an opportunity for "balance," bringing life and connection back to what was once a cultural hub.
More: Asheville Black and women-owned contractors lack access to city projects some say
$180K over 2.5 years
As outlined in the RFP, the total budget for the community facilitator and/or team is $180,000 over a 27-30-month period.
In addition to the $180,000, the following items are funded seperately:
Training/learning trip: $10,000
Consulting artist/creative strategist: $12,500
Marketing/promotion/advertising: $15,000
Community celebration: $15,000
Design/engineering: $166,325
Construction: $1.7 million
Candidate selection is anticipated for January. A timeline estimate shows work continuing through 2025, with construction and implementation of the cultural corridor, plus a community celebration, in 2026. The overall project is not to exceed September 2026.
Along with the "Boosting the Block" project, Dana Frankel, the city's downtown planning manager, said Mellon grant funds will be used with two other projects:
Reframing the Square, which will fund design and engineering for the site of the former Vance Monument and surrounding plaza, informed by the vision plan concepts; and
Sharing our Stories, which will involve a partnership with Buncombe County Special Collections to launch/expand a series of programs that improve the quality and quantity of history and storytelling efforts that educate, inspire and connect people throughout the region.
More: City of Asheville awarded $3M to reshape Pack Square Plaza
More: NC Supreme Court hears case of Vance Monument, which honors Confederate-era governor
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: A 'cultural corridor' for downtown Asheville: City seeks project lead
