County Commission Examines Future of Old Asheville Primary School Site

County commission discusses possibilities for old Asheville Primary School site

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (HERE NEWS) —

Asheville City Schools has ideas about what they want to see happen at 441 Haywood Road — the site of the building that used to be Asheville Primary School. The former school hasn’t been occupied since its doors closed in 2022. However on Tuesday, Buncombe County officials heard more about other options for what to do with the property.

Feasibility Study Reveals Potential Plans

“It looks big,” said Robert Brown, who presented the study on Tuesday. “It’s only 4.77 acres.”

Now, Buncombe County’s feasibility study for the property shows the possibility of creating a facilities building for ACS. “That gives [Asheville City Schools] some flexibility,” Brown said. “They can have buses, maintenance, and the flow of their traffic away from the pedestrian areas.”

The plan also shows two new structures going where Asheville Primary currently sits. Those include potential new additions, a new county station, and a two-story library. “The EMS station has the ability to be a three-bay station, a five-bay regional station and even with other opportunities it could be given an additional story,” Brown said. “You would have a weave of brick and fencing to separate the different zones and give it a security from one area to another.”

Commission’s Response

However, the idea was met with some counterpoints from the county commission. “Building a new facility on Haywood Road in one of the most urban areas of Buncombe County just to store things for the schools in a maintenance facility doesn’t seem like the best use,” District 3 Commissioner Parker Sloan said.

Exploring Other Options

Other concepts were presented about changes made to Hall Fletcher Elementary and Montford North Star Academy. No vote was taken or decision was finalized at Tuesday’s briefing.