UNC Asheville has announced the construction of a greenway linking the campus to Reed Creek Greenway, Montford and Downtown. Here’s the exciting announcement:
Greenway Work Begins at 525 Broadway with Support from the Federal Recreational Trails Program and Various Funders
Tuesday, Mar 11th, 2014ASHEVILLE – With all environmental, archaeological and regulatory reviews complete, work will begin this month at 525 Broadway on the Reed Creek Greenway linking UNC Asheville and Montford with downtown. The nine-acre parcel was purchased by the UNC Asheville Foundation in 2012 from TD Bank.
The greenway construction work is made possible by a combination of public and private funding, with financial support coming from a $200,000 grant from the Federal Recreational Trails Program administered by the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation; the City of Asheville; the UNC Asheville Foundation; RiverLink, UNC Asheville students; the Montford Neighborhood Association; and most recently, a $30,000 grant from the Glass Foundation, a private family foundation based in Asheville, and a $30,000 grant from the Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.
“UNC Asheville is so grateful to all of our partners, public and private, including the Glass Foundation and the individual donors who have helped make this possible,” said Buffy Bagwell, UNC Asheville vice chancellor for university advancement. “We are excited to be starting construction on the greenway.”
“A lot has been done already to clean up and stabilize the property,” said John Pierce, treasurer of the UNC Asheville Foundation. “Now with the reviews complete and funding in place, we can complete the greenway and associated landscaping and site work so students, bikers, runners and walkers can have a great way to get back and forth from downtown.”
“RiverLink is so excited to be adding yet another ‘missing link’ in the greenway system that will begin to connect UNC Asheville to the Wilma Dykeman RiverWay and the river greenway system we have been developing and promoting since 1994,” said Karen Cragnolin, executive director of RiverLink. “Our Deeds of Support have been a vital tool in developing greenways and at $50 a foot it’s a great value to help ensure that forever we will have some green, multimodal public space in our city.”
“The public-private partnership has made this possible,” said Roderick Simmons, City of Asheville director of parks and recreation. “The city has long supported greenway development and multimodal transportation. Once work is complete we hope to see lots of folks making use of the greenway.”
J.L.S. Company LLC has been selected as contractor for the work. Completion is expected by June 2014.