Business

Ask Matt ... where SECU is moving

By Bill Moss, Published: October 2, 2017

Q. I heard that the old First Union Bank Building at the corner of Asheville Highway and Haywood Road has been sold. Who bought it?

Another bank, of course. The building was more recently home to SunTrust Bank but has been vacant for years since SunTrust built a new bank building on Main Street in downtown Hendersonville. The new owner is the State Employees Credit Union. The credit union will relocate its now outgrown main office on Washington Street and Third Avenue next to the County Library. The old SunTrust bank — if you can call it old — will be demolished (except for the vault) and a larger 8,500-square-foot building will be erected on the pie-shaped lot that once also contained the Mountain Aire vacation cottages. Construction is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.

Q. What’s going on at the Opportunity House? I see fewer cars parked in front and the site is up for sale. Are they closing?

Neither their website nor Facebook page has been updated since May. Jackie Roberts is the organization’s development director and the only paid person at the facility. She has the daunting task of keeping the doors open – figuratively and literally. “Over the past years, revenues have declined and the present model is not sustainable,” says Roberts. Ken Rhoads, president of the Opportunity House Board, has not returned my calls.
The building and land is “available” for sale or lease. If sold, the asking price is $2.2 million. In either case, the operation would relocate to a smaller facility. Roberts says that if that happens, the nonprofit will still adhere to four key elements of their stated mission: cultural, social, educational and recreational endeavors. I heard from another source that a possible new direction for the organization would be to build and operate a business development center, perhaps similar to Biz 611, at 611 N. Church St.

Roberts said that the Opportunity House was once more of a craft center but over time became a senior center. Even so, no one plays cards there anymore because players won’t pay the higher room rates needed to keep the facility operating. The Music Academy is the biggest revenue producer in the building. The loss of clients renting space has delayed needed maintenance work.
The Opportunity House was born 60 years ago in a local church as a place where folks could learn and share new hobbies and crafts. In the 1980s, it moved to a former A&P Grocery store at 1411 Asheville Highway. In its heyday, the Opportunity House offered classes in stained glass, crocheting, dancing, painting, and ceramics, just to name a few. They even had a singles group that met there. The center supported itself by renting rooms to bridge players, potters, woodcarvers and other craftspeople. Weekend birthday parties were not uncommon.
I am of the opinion that the decline in use is partly due to competition from private craft businesses and perhaps even the County’s Athletics and Activity Center which rents rooms to local groups. The Opportunity House will have to reinvent itself or fold its tent. Roberts said that if the right client came in tomorrow with a long-term commitment, the sign in front may be pulled. I suspect that it will take a lot more than the return of bridge and pinochle players to make that happen.

Q. We used to have separate bins for metal, paper, plastic, etc. at the Henderson County Convenience Center. Now it’s all mixed together. Why the switch?

The new system, called “single stream,” went into effect in July. So why the change? “Efficiency,” says Rachel Kipar, the County’s Environmental Programs Coordinator. “Now we can move gondola trailers full of recycles whenever they are full and not have to wait for individual trailers.” Kipar also said that when new compactors are installed at the landfill later this year, there will be monetary savings due to fewer trailer hauls to the recycling facility in Asheville. The County received $45,500 in state grants to ease the change to single stream.
What’s changed at the Stoney Mountain Road Convenience Center is that all those separate bins (mixed paper, plastic, cardboard, and metal) have been reduced to just two – one for glass and one for everything else. Glass is hauled to Georgia. Sadly, in the recycling market, glass brings little revenue and its highest value comes if it’s separated from other recyclables. Hendersonville’s curbside collection will still take glass, but if you really, really want to help the solid waste system, save your glass for a trip to the Convenience Center.

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Send questions to askmattm@gmail.com.