A new indoor recreation facility is coming to the Buncombe County Sports Park in Enka-Candler, following a unanimous vote by the county Board of Commissioners.
On Tuesday evening, the board approved a roughly $1.6 million contract with Raleigh-based Method Studio
to design and oversee the project. The facility would be the first major indoor space to be managed by Buncombe’s parks and recreation system.The new facility is slated to include space for two high-school regulation basketball/volleyball courts, along with spectator seating and locker rooms. But Ronnie Lunsford, Buncombe’s general services project manager, told commissioners on Tuesday that the building will be much more than a gym.
Lunsford said the facility will hold the offices of the Parks
and Recreation Department, together with a catering kitchen and conference rooms. Its gym space will also be designed for flexibility, allowing the county to use it for community events or voting.
The county’s contract with Method Studio goes even further, with the design firm calling the building a “Community Resiliency Center” that will serve as a “vital emergency hub during natural disasters.” To that end, the architecture firm lists features including rooftop solar with battery storage, an emergency power generator, a rainwater capture cistern and medical supply storage.
It’s unclear how much of that vision will ultimately be realized. In response to a Citizen Times request for comment, county spokesperson Stacey Wood said the resilience center language was “used by the design team after early conversations” and that the project was a recreation center.
The project’s exact footprint also remains undecided. Lunsford told commissioners that the building would likely go at the entrance to the sports park, on the site of the former Sand Hill Elementary School. He said that location would be resistant to flooding and would allow the county to construct additional entrances and exits.
However, that area already hosts a sports practice field, the Buncombe County Dog Park, the Sand Hill Community Garden and a native tree nursery managed by the nonprofit Asheville GreenWorks. Lunsford said more details about impacts to existing facilities would be determined as the project proceeds.
Reached on Monday, Asheville GreenWorks Director of Operations Eric Bradford said the county hadn’t contacted him about potential disruption to the nonprofit’s work. After connecting with Buncombe officials, Bradford declined to comment further.
“As the site layout and facility design are further developed, we plan to engage with stakeholders to discuss potential relocation options and identify appropriate solutions for any affected elements,” Wood told the Citizen Times.
Actual construction of the indoor recreation center, as listed in the county’s current capital improvement plan, is estimated at $19.69 million. Lunsford said the project would likely take about two and a half years to finish, putting completion sometime in early 2029.
Daniel Walton is the City Government Watchdog Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at dwalton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Buncombe approves first county-run indoor recreation center
