Asheville staff outline parks, arts and cultural recovery priorities after Tropical Storm Helene

Parks and Recreation Director Dee Tyrell McGirt told the Asheville City Council at a March 20 agenda briefing that a Natural and Cultural Resources Recovery Support Group is prioritizing reopening damaged parks and supporting the local arts economy after damage from Tropical Storm Helene.

The recovery support group (RSG) has been divided into three small teams — arts and creative industries, historic and cultural heritage, and parks and natural resources — and is using the FEMA disaster recovery format to align short-, medium- and long-term projects, McGirt said. "This update today highlights our ongoing recovery efforts, again, related to natural and cultural resources," she said.

The nut of the update: staff are prioritizing rapid reopening of parks and greenways that are safe to use, identifying temporary services to replace lost amenities, and coordinating longer-term, resilient redesigns for major sites such as French Broad River Park and River Arts District. Short-term items already completed include an inventory of city public art and a plan to reallocate existing public art funds; midterm work includes standing up temporary uses such as dog parks and outdoor volleyball and planning aquatic operations for the summer; long-term work focuses on riverfront revitalization, habitat and tree canopy restoration, and stormwater strategies.

Council members asked for more detail about specific sites and temporary measures. Council member Kim Browning asked whether pickleball had been considered alongside dog parks and skating facilities; McGirt replied staff focused first on amenities lost where there is no alternative citywide, and said staff are open to expanding temporary options. Councilor Oman and others pressed for more clarity on erosion-control measures along the French Broad and Swannanoa riverbanks; McGirt and Recovery Coordinator Bridget Herron said debris removal and FEMA site inspections must occur before many temporary bank-stabilization measures can be installed, but staff are exploring interim erosion-control options.

Council and staff discussed coordination with other agencies working in riverfront areas. City Manager Deborah Campbell and other council members noted a large Metropolitan Sewerage District (MSD) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project is underway at French Broad River Park and that MSD has not yet presented to council; staff agreed to invite MSD to brief the council. Campbell emphasized the scale of the work and the need to follow federal and state recovery rules: "we've gotta do it by the book, y'all, because this is expensive stuff we are dealing with," she said.

McGirt listed parks targeted for near-term reopening: Richmond Hill Park and Riverside Cemetery are being assessed now with the aim to reopen within weeks; French Broad River Park, River Arts District recreation spaces and Swannanoa River recreation areas are longer-term projects that will require design and resiliency planning. Staff also reported that the natural and cultural RSG is folding its arts and historic work into the economic recovery RSG and parks work into the infrastructure RSG to streamline recovery coordination.

Council requested more frequent, detailed briefings on erosion-control approaches and invited MSD to present the scope of its riverwork. McGirt said staff will return with more detailed strategies and timelines as FEMA inspections and debris-removal steps are completed.

As a next step, staff will continue coordination with infrastructure and economic recovery groups, develop temporary service plans for lost amenities, and provide council with follow-up information about erosion-control options and MSD's plan.