Free Daily Headlines

News

Set your text size: A A A

News

Here's what a new HHS would look like

Henderson County News

Traffic stop leads to multiple drug charges (2)

Henderson County sheriff’s deputies charged a 26-year-old Old Holbert Road woman with multiple drug felonies after a traffic stop in the area of Morris Road and N.C. 191 on Monday night.   Read Story »

Hendersonville News

New HHS plan wins applause

Architects hired to draw a new plan for Hendersonville High School presented a design Monday night that drew praise from the School Board and applause from Bearcat alumni and faculty in the audience. The plan preserves the historic Stillwell core building — the crux of a dispute between the county commissioners and School Board — while adding a second large classroom building, second gym, new courtyard space and numerous security improvements.Two architectural firms formed a partnership for the project in response to the School Board’s request for a new school design. The firms are Asheville-based PFA Architects and LS3P, a Charlotte-based education construction specialist that has built 576 school buildings in the past 20 years.Presented at a special meeting of the School Board on Monday night, the new plan followed the same lines as one that that the firm presented back in September when it won the board’s endorsement to design. With its final vote on the plan expected to come next week, the School Board is near the end of this phase of its last ditch effort to save the HHS construction project after a rift with the Board of Commissioners over the cost and design issues.Jay Egolf, who just joined the School Board last month after winning election in November, complimented the School Board and the architects for having come this far.“Everybody did an outstanding job,” he said. “I think it’s great. Great job.”Board Chair Amy Lynn Holt, who with Blair Craven led the battle for a Stillwell-centric plan, said the vote on this new plan would come next Monday night.“We’re just waiting on some final budget numbers so we can approve it and hopefully take it across town for approval,” she said. PFA principal Maggie Carnevale told the School Board that the team had held seven different meetings with high school faculty and staff, briefed county commissioners on the plans and begun working with Vannoy Construction, which has done many projects for the county, on refining cost estimates. The architects also have gotten the preliminary blessing from the state Department of Public Instruction — “They said keep going, keep moving forward,” Carnevale said — and has met four times with the development team of the city of Hendersonville, including the city manager, fire chief, police chief, planning staff, engineers and public works.The plan would result in 150,000 square feet of new and renovated space, including 91,000 square feet of new building.PFA partner Scott Donald said the team’s primary goal was to preserve the historic Stillwell building while adding the new space and making the campus secure. Besides the Stillwell building, only the 1974 gym would survive. The cafeteria, bandroom, vocational-ed building and auxiliary gym would all be bulldozed by the time the project is done in 2023.The construction phasing is complicated and not without sacrifice. HHS will lose use of a gym for one whole school year; once the cafeteria is demolished to make room for the new classroom building, lunches will be made offsite at Hendersonville Middle School and brought to HHS.“The Stillwell building is a community landmark and it’s also a very well built building,” Donald said. “They did things right in the ‘20s. It’s a building worth saving.”The historic building has a new roof and a new chiller but will need new wiring, heating and AC systems and fire safety fixes to meet code. The architects said the “critically undersized classrooms” will be greatly enlarged without disturbing columns or load-bearing walls. “It can be repaired and renovated. It also will save you a lot of money compared to building two new buildings. Rather than do that, we can repair these buildings and use them for another 75 years.” The Jim Pardue Gymnasium and originally HHS building “have a lot of meaning to the community,” he said. “They’re well worth saving.”Architect Amy Dowty explained the security improvements for a campus that is “too porous” with “too many entries.” The plan creates 146 parking spaces on the Boyd lot.“That gives us enough room on this campus that we can look at the campus as a whole and make it safe,” she said. “If we can provide 146 spaces on this campus then we meet the ordinance and this plan does that. That’s not counting parking on the street.”Students and faculty would reach the parking lot with a right turn from Asheville Highway at the now closed Ninth Avenue and would exit via right turn only onto Asheville Highway. Bus loading would be safer and simpler thanks to a turn-out lane parallel to Oakland Street. “We have designed this entry so there would be two manned supervisable entries into the building at pickup and dropoff times,” Dowty said. “After pickup and dropoff time, all the other doors could be locked automatically.”Connecting the new classroom to the Stillwell building with a second-story pedestrian bridge means students can reach everything on the campus without having to go outside — a major security improvement.   Read Story »

Fletcher News

Fletcher plant to add 68 jobs paying $47,000/year

A $27 million expansion would make a Fletcher plant the world's largest maker of electromagnet tags used for retail and wholesale inventory tracking, economic development and company officials say.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Mudslide closes one lane of U.S. 74A

GERTON — A short section of U.S. 74A between Gerton and Bat Cave will be reduced to one lane for at least several weeks while NCDOT crews repair damage from a mudslide.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Sheriff's office seeking robbery suspects

The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office is requesting the public’s help in locating a 25-year-old man and 31-year-old woman wanted for an armed robbery in the Kanuga Road area.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

Newly rebranded AdventHealth welcomes first baby of 2019

Brynlee Kay Puttick is the first baby for her parents Lauren Norris and Gage Puttick, the first grandbaby in her family and she is also the first baby girl born at the newly rebranded AdventHealth Hendersonville, formerly Park Ridge Health.   Read Story »

Fletcher News

Pardee, AdventHealth chart strategies for a changing health care market

Among the certainties in the new year is change on the health care front, and nowhere is that change as certain as in Henderson County.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

City to look at commercial zoning on Kanuga at State-Erkwood

The Hendersonville City Council on Thursday night sent to the Planning Board a rezoning request that could lead to higher intensity development at the intersection of Kanuga Road and Erkwood Drive.   Read Story »

Henderson County News

NHHS announces new football coach

Jim Beatty, a former head football coach at T.C. Roberson High School and an assistant coach last year at North Henderon High School, has been hired as the new head football coach at North, the school announced. Beatty joined the North Henderson staff this past season after leaving McDowell High School. Since becoming a Knight, Beatty has served as PE teacher, offensive coordinator and assistant football coach.“I’m very excited about this opportunity to become the head football coach at North Henderson and working with this group of kids and this community. I would also like to thank Dr. Shepard and Mr. McDaris for this opportunity,” said Coach Beatty.Beatty is no stranger to what it takes to be successful in western North Carolina and the Western Mountain Athletic Conference. During his eight years as head football coach at TC Roberson High School Beatty led the Rams to two MAC championships (2007 and 2012), four MAC 4A conference championships (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013), and a finish as the NCHSAA Western Regional Runner-Up in the playoffs (2007). Beatty was also selected as the MAC Coach of the Year in 2012. After leaving the Rams Beatty served as the offensive line coach for Mars Hill University for three years before joining Andy Morgan’s football staff at McDowell High School.“We are excited for Coach Beatty to pick right up where Coach Zach Wilkins left off," Assistant Principal and Athletic Director John McDaris said. "Coach Wilkins did a tremendous job in helping our football program take strides in a more positive direction and we believe Coach Beatty is the perfect man to continue to help us move forward. We are excited about Coach Beatty’s toughness and intensity and look forward to supporting him as he leads our football program."Beatty has been married for 15 years to his wife, Laura.   Read Story »

News Archive