Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies, and the real answers:
Question: Walking downtown last Thanksgiving, I noticed an informational sign in front of Harrah’s Cherokee Center that describes local music traditions. The sign was provided by Explore Asheville. A list of local musicians includes Gladys Knight, but her name is spelled “Galdys Knight.” I notified Harrah’s Cherokee Center General Manager Chris Corl, and he said he would contact Explore Asheville. It’s been almost six months and the sign hasn’t been corrected. My questions are: Who printed the sign and didn’t proofread it? Who at Explore Asheville didn’t proofread the sign before it was installed? Am I the only person who ever read the sign? Doesn’t Gladys deserve better?
My answer: Perhaps you’re just not familiar with Gladys Knight’s lesser-known younger sister, Galdys, the winner of multiple “Grimmy” awards for such near-classics as “Midnight Train to Sandy Mush” and “That is NOT What Friends are for, Bubs.”
Real answer: The sign does indeed misspell Gladys Knight’s name, which I can tell you has to be incredibly painful for whoever wrote this and the editor who missed it. We don’t know because Explore Asheville did not divulge that information.
The good news is that a fix is coming.
“We appreciate the reader bringing this to our attention,” Ashley Greenstein, spokesperson for Explore Asheville, said via email. “Explore Asheville maintains nearly 400 wayfinding signs throughout the city and county, reviewing them for repairs and updates each spring, so this is good timing.”
The sign will be fixed quickly.
“When the artwork was submitted to our vendor, it was spelled properly, and somehow, during production, it got misspelled,” Greenstein said. “We are working with our contractor to update this right now. As a western North Carolina legend, Gladys definitely deserves it.”
Indeed.
Knight was born in Atlanta but now lives in Buncombe County.
Corl, with Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, said, “We notified staff about the typo on the sign in December.
“The sign has been installed on the front patio for some time now,” Corl said. “My past experience is that adjustments and updates to these signs are not inexpensive, and it is typically a best practice to wait to mobilize the contracted sign company until there are a few updates that are required. I imagine that is the case with the timeline for updates to this informational sign.”
Question: I’m wondering why Short McDowell Street is in such lousy condition. It’s a little road — hence the name “Short.” Why can’t the city pave it?
My answer: I cover this short-yet-infamous piece of roadway in chapter 406 of my new book, “Projects Asheville swears it will finish before the year 2100.” It’s a gripping read.
Real answer: I knew the words “Short McDowell” and “lousy condition” rang a bell. I wrote about the exact same stretch of roadway in 2018 in a column wherein the reader referred to Short McDowell as a “chaotic minefield.”
It was not an exaggeration. While the road runs maybe a quarter mile from McDowell Street down to Meadow Street, it boasts a mix of concrete, asphalt, and potholes that make the local wheel alignment shops drool. Back then, six years ago, mind you, the answer in a nutshell was the city’s Water Resources Department had an upcoming project on the street, and the city didn’t want to pave the road only to have to tear it up a little later to fix the water lines.
And here we are in 2024.
“Short McDowell is scheduled to be resurfaced as part of a Water Resources Department Project replacing 6,000 feet of a water transmission main on Short McDowell and McDowell Streets,” Water Resources spokesperson Clay Chandler told me via email. “The project has been put out to bid and is currently slated to come before City Council in May.”
If council approves it, “work should begin this summer in June or early July,” Chandler said.
So that’s the good news. The bad news is even this fix will not be quick.
“The entire project is expected to last approximately two years,” Chandler said. “As much work as possible will take place at night to minimize traffic disruption in the area.”
Chandler added that city departments do need to coordinate these kinds of projects, and this project involves Water Resources and Public Works.
“Coordination between the two departments is a reflection of the city of Asheville’s conscious efforts to conserve resources and identify opportunities to streamline costs by avoiding repetitive or overlapping projects,” Chandler said.
Hey, sometimes coordination takes a while.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Got a question? Send it to John Boyle at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org or 828-337-0941. His Answer Man columns appear each Tuesday and Friday. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/donate.
Just lame excuses for shoddy work. Proofing and paving make good friends…
Been here for 23 yrs nothing has ever been fix on short McDowell street. Same as down town Patton new asphalt and dig new holes. At least the politicians go to short term prison.
While they’re at it, they should change this sentence so that it is not so ridiculously redundant.
“Many local musicians have called the Asheville area home.”
They spent their money on cheese plates and denim shirts rather than hiring a competent copy editor. Priorities…
You are hilarious, John Boyle.
Thank you for adding a measure of humor to dire situations.
John, I have two more streets that were bad 13 years ago and are even worse now. Hazel Mill Road (West Asheville) and Rockcliff Place (Asheville) are in atrocious condition. I worry that I will need new tires or a front-end realignment of my car every time I drive on them. They are full of deteriorating pavement and horrible pot holes! Why has nothing been done to improve these streets in over 13 years! I can see my taxpayer dollars are not hard at work.