News

Ask Matt ... about I-26 mural, Fairmont at Cedars, pocket park downtown

Mural artist Andrea Martin speaks during the dedication of her large Blue Ridge Mountains work on the back wall of the SafeNest Storage building. [MATTESON/Hendersonville Lightning]

By Matt Matteson, Published: November 13, 2023

Q. What were those people doing the other day sitting in chairs behind what was once World of Clothing?

   That was the dedication on Oct. 28 of the mural painted on the I-26 side of the building. Local artist Andrea Martin painted the mountains of Western North Carolina at the request of the building’s new owner SafeNest Storage. The cavernous repurposed facility on Sugarloaf Road boasts 800 climate-controlled units. One cool thing the owner did was name the aisles in the building after Hendersonville city streets. SafeNest also rents 73 outdoor covered RV spaces.

Q. Why have they stopped construction of the Fairmont Heritage condo development at the Cedars?

   We are told that NCDOT is working out driveway permits for the development, which fronts on both North Church Street and Seventh Avenue West. A spokesperson for Fairmont said the permits are almost secured and that a groundbreaking is planned this fall.

Q. I noticed Hendersonville city crews cutting the grass on the small fenced in area on Third Avenue West behind the School Administration Building and the Library. Doesn’t that belong to the school system?

   Not any longer. The City acquired the one-acre parcel in the West Side Historic District in late August via a land swap with the schools. A deed restriction requires that it be used as a park or green space and open to the public daylight hours. The city has no immediate plans for the property. City officials suggested that the public weigh in on the site’s future use through their Parks Master Plan Update Survey (www.publicinput.com/cohparks).

   The other part of the swap conveyed 21 acres of undeveloped land on Balfour Road next to the Kimberly-Clark plant to the county schools. That tract is adjacent to a 17-acre site known as Berkeley Park and contains the historic baseball stadium where the Hendersonville High Bearcats now play their home games. The school system acquired the stadium tract in another land swap with the city last December. In that exchange, the city took ownership of Edwards Park at Five Points so it could move the new Laura E. Corn Mini Golf Course there.

Q. What is the construction going on at Etowah-Horse Shoe Fire & Rescue’s station No. 3 on U.S. 64 West?

   The Horse Shoe station is being expanded. According to Fire Chief Mike Huggins, a new bay will be added plus living quarters so that there will be a firefighter team at the station 24 hours a day. Not far across town on N.C. 280, some may have noticed the new main station for Mills River Fire & Rescue that opened in June. It has five bays that can accommodate 10 pieces of fire apparatus. Chief Rick Livingston said the 22,000-square-foot building is designed to last 75 years.

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Send questions to askmattm@gmail.com.