What to know about Goombay's cancellation in downtown Asheville, YMI renovations
ASHEVILLE - This weekend was slated to be the 42nd Goombay Festival, an African-Caribbean festival presented by the YMI Cultural Center, intended to celebrate the richness and diversity of the African diaspora, a showcase of Black culture, art, food and entertainment.
But this year, as the YMI pursues a $6.4 million renovation of its 130-year-old building, the downtown celebration was put on pause.
YMI Board Chair Anthony Thomas acknowledged the importance of Goombay to the community, a three-day event that attracts thousands over Labor Day weekend, but said with focus on the renovation, and unable to use the YMI building as a staging space as it has in prior years, there was not the capacity to hold it this year.
He said the festival would be back in 2024.
"We know how important that festival is to the Asheville community and specifically the Black community, and again, if we are going to host a festival, we are going to host it the best way possible," Thomas said. "We just felt like taking this pause while the renovations are taking place, and while we are doing some reconfigurations internally, that it was the best course of action."
The YMI, one of the the oldest Black cultural centers in the country, is currently at the center of ongoing litigation, as its ex-director Dewana Little says she was fired after asking for backpay and is suing for $360,000 in backpay and damages, and is denying the center's counterclaim of embezzlement. Little, vice chair of Asheville and Buncombe County's Community Reparations Commission, filed the case in Buncombe County Superior Court in February. The YMI countersued in April.
The most recent August filing indicates the case is in mediation with a deadline of early November. A tentative trial date is set for Jan. 22.
When reached Aug. 30, Little declined to comment.
In response to questions about the litigation, Thomas said it is being handled by the attorneys.
“Our focus as a board, as there is not a whole lot we can do in that space, are implementing our strategic plan and looking forward to our future,” Thomas said. “When you have a 130-year history, it’s a storied history. One of the things that I assured our funders in our conversations, and I want to assure the community, is that our doors aren’t shutting. We are looking forward to 2024 and our grand opening.”
What about the renovations?
The $6.4 million renovations are ongoing, he said, with construction anticipated to be finished by the end of 2023. Plans to reopen are tentatively set for the first quarter of 2024. Of that goal, about $4.4 million has been raised.
The historic building sits on the corner of Eagle and Market streets, aka on "the Block," once the center of Asheville's Black business and cultural district.
The project will include renovations to its basement for community use, a modified kitchen, newly lit gallery, classrooms, storage expansion and climate-controlled archival room. Plus revamps to its entire facility, such as modernizations, new equipment and systems, and a "state of the art" auditorium and theater space. It broke ground in November.
In the meantime, YMI is currently operating out of an office space in the United Way of Asheville, Thomas said. The nonprofit has four employees.
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Thomas said there are no plans to roll back existing programming, but that the expanded space will offer an opportunity to open new revenue streams, like leasing space for events, single-day use and outside programming. The building includes four leasable retail spaces, two occupied by PennyCup at the YMI and Noir Collective AVL. They are still in the process of finding tenants for the remaining spaces, Thomas said, each topping 1,000 square feet of refurbished space.
“One of the things that this pause has allowed us to do is to reassess our internal structures in general,” Thomas said. They are about to begin the search for a permanent executive director, he said, as well as a finance manager. In the future, he is also considering other new positions, like a "cultural curator" to shape a slate of national speakers, art exhibits and music acts as part of a push for more ticketed events.
Thomas said the nonprofit will still focus on workforce development, homeownership, building generational wealth and youth programming. Other ongoing efforts include business incubation, the "Black Experience Book Club" and a Black-led exercise program.
Some programs will be offered directly, others through partnerships with other nonprofits. He imagines a return to events that have not been held since the onset of COVID, like a Black town hall, pulling people from all across the community to a single space to "address Black concerns."
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: Why was downtown Asheville's Goombay Festival canceled?
