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Ask Matt ... about First Baptist parking, BorgWarner's turbo units

Endeavour Infrastructure chose BorgWarner to prepare its TurboCell hybrid power units for mass production.

By Bill Moss, Published: July 10, 2026

Q. They just took down that one-story building on Buncombe Street and 5th Avenue West. What’s going be built there?

Actually, nothing except trees and shrubs. First Baptist Church, the owner of that half-acre property plus another six acres downtown, is adding more parking. According to Penny Williams, CFO and administrator of the First Baptist Church, the lot is needed due to ongoing projects. “We are in the process of renovating our old gym that has been used as a Modern Worship space for the past six years,” said Williams. “We are adding seating for 250 more people, which will create a need for even more parking.” The new lot will be directly across from the main church building on 5th Avenue West and will serve seniors and families with young children. And that’s not all the First Baptist parking news. The Hendersonville City Council last week adopted a one-year agreement with the church that makes parking free on Sundays in the city parking deck on Church Street at Fifth Avenue East. Parishioners can use that covered space — and so can everyone else. The Baptist Church is paying the city $12,000 a year for the deal — 3½ times more than the historical average of Sunday parking revenue over the past three years. A contract the city council approved permits the church to post a single sandwich-board sign at each parking deck entrance saying that free parking on Sunday is paid for by the church. "No other religious messaging, proselytization or
additional text is allowed," the contract says. Parking on Main Street and the avenues between Church and King streets is already free on Sundays.

Q. I just read about BorgWarner investing big bucks in Henderson County. Everyone who was present for the groundbreaking spoke highly of the company and the investment here, but no one mentioned the product they are making. Does anyone know?

According to a BorgWarner Facebook post, they will make turbo power units for Endeavour Infrastructure, a partner company. These “units” are designed to support up to two gigawatts of annual production capacity and will supply power infrastructure for large-scale energy projects and data centers. By mistake, I went down the rabbit hole looking for a simple way to explain what a turbo power unit was and who was Endeavour Infrastructure? This stuff is so new, that you need to be a physics PhD to understand it.

First of all, Endeavour is a multi-faceted, high-tech company headquartered in Darien, Connecticut. It develops big data centers, cooling systems, advanced fuels and turbo power units for data centers under the brand name TurboCell. You remember that turbocharger on your father’s 1963 Oldsmobile? It forced more air into the engine for increased power. The turbo power units that will be made in Hendersonville work the same way but these units, bigger than that old car, are also designed to flatten out the curves in the power demand.

“TurboCell manufacturing achieves automotive-level throughput in state-of-the-art, modular facilities optimized for high-volume, scalable output, and consistent quality across every unit,” reads the promo on the TurboCell website. Welcome to AI, brother.

Q. Who put up the speed limit signs on the Ecusta Trail? Have there been any serious accidents on the trail?

Two signs were paid for by the Friends of the Ecusta Trail at a cost of $453 each. Bruce Gilliam, Henderson County Parks and Recreation director, said as far as he knows, there have been no serious accidents since the first six-mile section was opened last July. Gilliam said he has four park sworn deputies available for park patrol. It seems that the biggest safety problem thus far has been Google. “Several times drivers using Google Maps have been given wrong directions and were told to turn from White Pine Drive on to the trail,” Gilliam said. “We think we have that fixed.”