News

Vote now on Fifth Avenue sidewalk mural

By Lightning Reports, Published: August 24, 2021

The Friends of Downtown Hendersonville, which narrowed the choices for a Fifth Avenue East sidewalk mural, is inviting people to vote on their favorite design.

This project, funded by an AARP Community Challenge Grant will build the pedestrian connection between the two downtown commercial districts through creative visible sidewalk murals that will be selected and created through an engaged community process.

Residents may view the finalists and vote on line here until Monday, Sept. 6. The Friends of Downtown Hendersonville has offered opportunities to vote on their favorite in person during LoveHendo Saturday, Rhythm & Brews, and the Hendersonville Farmers Market this month. Mural designs will be on display at the entrance to City Hall on Sixth Avenue East during this week and at the City Operations Center during the City Council meetings on Aug. 24 and Sept. 2. One final in-person display will be at the Annual Community Fest at Sullivan Park on Sunday, Sept. 5.

“We received a lot of great designs and are looking forward to completing the final project,” said Jamie Carpenter, the city's downtown manager. “We had a wide range of styles and ideas, including designs that highlight diversity and inclusion as well as our natural assets. The final mural design will incorporate features from several of the finalist concepts and we are looking forward to coming together as a community with this project.”

The City of Hendersonville has made strategic efforts to connect Seventh Avenue and Main Street, including a public-private partnership to complete the historic rehabilitation of the award-winning Grey Mill redevelopment workforce housing project that is located along 5th Avenue and serves as an anchor between the districts. Additionally, the Friends of Downtown began the Hendersonville Farmers Market in 2020 on Maple Street, a connection that will serve as a destination at the end of the Fifth Avenue Art Route. The City Council also authorized the Seventh Avenue Streetscape project, a $1.4 million investment into pedestrian and stormwater infrastructure and landscaping in the business district slated to start later this year.