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Interim capital director briefs council on recovery projects, greenway and fire station timelines
Summary
Interim Capital Management Director Walter Eyre updated council on FY26 capital projects and recovery work, highlighting completed garage repairs, the 0.75-mile Nasty Branch Greenway (design due this year; construction ~18 months), Oakley Civic Complex/New Fire Station 9 (construction expected early 2027), and a layered funding approach for FEMA PA
Walter Eyre, interim director of the Capital Management Department, gave the council a quarterly snapshot of Asheville's FY26 capital projects and infrastructure recovery progress.
Eyre framed the work as building a "stronger, safer, and more connected" Asheville and highlighted recently completed projects, including repairs to the Rankin and Wall Street garages and upgrades to Burton Street playgrounds and sport courts. He said the city is attempting to improve transparency of projects by linking slides to project pages on the city's projects dashboard.
On specific projects, Eyre said the Nasty Branch Greenway is roughly three-quarters of a mile from McDowell Street to Depot Street, includes interpretive signage that honors South Side history, and that staff anticipate design completion by the end of the year with construction starting in early-to-mid next year and lasting about 18 months. Eyre described the Oakley Civic Complex phase 1 (New Fire Station 9) as a 2.5-bay, LEED-certified facility with a solar array; design and engagement will continue through next fall with construction targeted for early 2027 and an expected construction duration of roughly 18 months.
Eyre also discussed infrastructure recovery funding, describing the city's use of multiple federal funding streams (FEMA PA, FEMA HMGP, HUD CDBG-DR) and a "design it twice" approach to establish base repair cost before negotiating mitigation with FEMA. He said staff and recovery consultant Haggerty submitted eight HMGP project applications that, if awarded in full, could represent about $415 million in mitigation work but noted the review and approval process could take up to two years. Eyre confirmed the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium roof replacement is expected to begin in November and that the work is funded in part by insurance and in part by public assistance.
Council members asked follow-up questions about downtown signal timing, the bond-dashboard data, and a college-campus renovation that received a bid over budget; Eyre committed to providing prioritization and additional detail to council. He closed by directing attendees to ashvillenc.gov/projects for project pages and encouraged patience with federal processes while recovery projects progress.
