Posted on the Asheville Citizen-Times website on July 1, 2024
Today's burning question considers the ongoing demolition of the A-B Tech Enka-Candler Haynes Tower. Have other questions for our staff? Email Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.
Question: I drove past the Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Enka campus and noticed that the destruction of the large vacant building on the side had begun. Many of the windows had been removed. When is the project expected to be completed? Are there any plans for what that site might be used for? Can any of the building be recycled to minimize waste?
Answer: The Haynes Tower Building at the A-B Tech Enka campus has been discussed as possibly being set for demolition for the past few years, as the building was largely left vacant in 2015 after the campus faced budget cuts. The demolition began in April, according to a press release from A-B Tech.
The Buncombe County Commission voted to officially demolish the building in November 2022, with a consent agenda item citing that it would simply be "more cost-effective on a cost per square foot basis to demolish rather than renovate." The request for board action also stated that it no longer had a certificate of occupancy and that the two joint buildings that make up the tower are "in a state of disrepair."
By the time I visited this gated-off site in late June, the lower, wider building had already been destroyed while it looks like more work will soon be done to the tower. The building was one of at least three that have been named after Harvey Lee Haynes, who was the President of A-B Tech from 1975 to 1990. Haynes died in 2020.
In March, the County Commission approved contractor D.H. Griffin to work on the project for $648,990 after the county put the project out to bid in January. Of the bids received, D.H. Griffin had the lowest, county spokesperson Kassi Day told me.
The County Commission had also approved preliminary removal engineering from Civil Design Concepts in 2022, with the Asheville-based civil engineering team working with the county to consult on the demolition project, according to commission documents. The basic services of hiring the firm was estimated to be $210,500, setting the total cost for both the contractors and the civil engineering team around $860,000.
County documents indicate that the demolition would be finished within 180 days of construction beginning, meaning it will probably last through most of the summer.
During a March 7 presentation to the County Commission, county General Services Project Manager Ronnie Lunsford said three major hazardous materials — asbestos, lead, and PCBs — were found by contractors before the project beginning and will be separated from the building to be properly disposed of before full demolition. The goal for the rest of the building would be to separate materials out for recycling to "really minimize what goes to the landfill," Lunsford said.
Demolition of the Haynes Tower building on A-B Tech's Enka-Candler campus is underway after the contract was approved in March. June 28, 2024.
While the tower is deconstructed, the neighboring A-B Tech Enka-Candler campus, which houses the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast, is still chugging away, A-B Tech spokesperson Kerri Glover said. The construction is not expected to impact services on the campus, Glover said.
Due to the nature of toxic chemicals and recycling efforts on the site. Glover called it a "slower demolition." They will not be using explosives to demolish the building, but Glover said contractors indicated that they'd be using "taller equipment."
While the project is still on schedule to be completed within the 180-day timeline, Glover said the team recently hit a delay with the tower portion.
"The work was ahead of schedule; it hit a delay recently with the tower portion, but is still on schedule since they have until September to complete the project," Glover told me.
After the demolition, the only plans the county has on record right now for the site is a regrading project that will be completed by D.H. Griffin after the demolition is complete.