University of North Carolina at Asheville
D. Hiden Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives

Register of Manuscript
for

 Housing Authority of the City of Asheville Records

M2007.12.01-122


Asheville Housing Authority booklet, "Our Community - Civic Redevelopment," 
in Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, N.C., Records, Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNCA

Title Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, N.C ., Records
Alt Title Housing Authority , City of Asheville Records [Shortened version of above title, sometimes used when referring to the lead agency responsible for the records.]
Al Title Asheville Housing Authority [An informal and shorter variant of the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, NC., often used by staff and by contractors and others working with the department.]
Alt. Title Asheville Urban Renewal Files [An unofficial designation used by some parties to refer to the collection of records, largely related to NC R-48 and NC R-13.]
Identifier http://toto.lib.unca.edu/findingaids/mss/housing_authority_city_asheville/
default_housing_authority_city_asheville.htm
Creator City of Asheville, Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, Planning and Development Department
Subject Keyword East End, Asheville ; Southside, Asheville ; East Riverside, Asheville ; East Riverside redevelopment ; Civic Redevelopment Project ; Asheville Redevelopment Commission ; Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, N.C. ; Asheville, NC ; urban renewal ; city planning ; gentrification ; eminent domain ; maps ; streets ; roads ; gardens ; African-Americans ; community ; Southside ; Model Cities ; greenways ; Y.M.C.A. ; Y.W.C.A. ; social services ; NC R-48 ; NC R-13 ; Mountain Housing Opportunities ; City-County Plaza ; Marjorie Scavella ;
Subject LCSH City planning -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Civic improvement -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Urban renewal -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Asheville (N.C.) -- Planning
Asheville (N.C.) -- History
Asheville (N.C.) -- Economic conditions
Traffic engineering -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Highway planning -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Apartment houses -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Housing -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Real property -- North Carolina -- Asheville
Description This collection contains approximately 122 cartons of unprocessed records of the Asheville Redevelopment Commission and the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville. The original agency, the Asheville Redevelopment Commission, was officially merged with the Housing Authority in 1971, although they had shared a common director and project staff for several years prior to the merger. [Note:  The name of this agency seems to have been the same since its inception; however the name Asheville Housing Authority is often used as an informal or shorter name.  This informal name is generally used by non-agency staff, such as contractors or private citizens, as well as agency staff and other city employees on internal docs and memos.]

The records contained in this collection are those primarily concerned with what the city referred to as 'redevelopment projects'. The redevelopment projects fall under the general rubric of 'urban renewal', hence the frequent reference to the files as 'urban renewal' files. The largest volume of  records in this collection are those from the East Riverside (Southside) Urban Redevelopment Project (NC R-48) and from the Civic Redevelopment Project (NC R-13) in Asheville, North Carolina. Smaller records sets of other city redevelopment projects are also included in the collection. The bulk of the records cover the NC R-48 Project Plan and its outcomes and the  NC R-13 Project Plan, and its outcomes. The temporal coverage for all records is approximately 1959 to the late 1990's.

In addition to locally created records, there are federal and state records associated with the redevelopment initiatives at the federal, state and local levels. The core project records include appraisals, boundary descriptions, demolition contracts, financial records, relocation files, acquisition records, reports, property photographs, and other miscellaneous materials related to the individual redevelopment processes.

The records from the Housing Authority City of Asheville were transferred to UNCA by the Asheville Planning and Development Department and Mountain Housing Opportunities, in July 2007, and  formal transfer occurred October 16, 2007 when the Asheville City Council approved the transfer of the material files and photographs and provided a subsidy for the processing of the collection.

NC R-48, the largest of the urban renewal projects included in this collection, was planned to address "a blighted area predominantly residential in character and considered to be eligible under Section 110c 1. of the federal Housing Act of 1949 and amended under the North Carolina Urban Redevelopment Law of 1951, 'as amended, N.C.G.S. 160-454 through 16-474.'"  The renewal Project Plan for NC R-48  provided for both rehabilitation and conservation efforts and for clearance and redevelopment in accordance with the project proposals. The plan is described in this manner:

"The major emphasis will be on preserving and maintaining the existing housing stock through rehabilitation and conservation techniques. Selected areas, however, are scheduled for clearance and redevelopment for a variety of uses including residential, public, commercial, and industrial."

The provisions of the NC R-48 plan were scheduled to be in effect until December 31, 1986 but reflect numerous amendments.  The key objectives described in the official plan are the following:

  • To eliminate the blighting conditions which prevented the economic utilization of the land.
  • To create sizeable areas of land for residential use to relocate the occupants of substandard housing within their incomes.
  • To provide for sound, economic redevelopment of commercial, industrial and institutional land in the Area in accordance with the Plan and the needs of the City of Asheville.
  • To provide for the stabilization of land uses and property values within and adjoining the Project Area.
  • To provide improved traffic facilities without disturbing standard residential property.
  • To provide adequate facilities and utility services in order to create a self sustained neighborhood at par with any other standard neighborhood of the community. Such public facilities include space for parks, public housing, expansion of school grounds, a Y.M.C.A.
  • To identify areas capable of being  rehabilitated by refurbishing structures.
  • To beautify the neighborhood by clearing dilapidated structures out of the flood plain and converting that area into a public park.
  • To improve the park in the flood plain by cleaning out the creek.
  • To provide a visual barrier for residential property located along major streets through the use of green buffer strips.
  • To encourage cycling paths and pedestrian trails thru the green buffer strips to provide for the better enjoyment of nature.

NC R-13 Civic Redevelopment Project was considered to be a "Modernization Program. As described by the Asheville Housing Authority, " ...the area encompassing this project The Civic Redevelopment Project north and west of City-County Plaza was responsible for the present Health Department building among others. The East Riverside Urban Renewal Project bought dilapidated properties on 424 acres in the vicinity of Aston Park and then sold the land to builders of affordable housing. Marjorie Scavella of the Asheville Housing Authority says eminent domain was used when necessary. She remembers some furor at the time but says the current feeling in the neighborhoods about the project is positive."

Publisher Special Collections, D.H. Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina at Asheville 28804
Contributor Mountain Housing Opportunities ; Asheville Planning and Development Department
Date Date of collection:  1959- late 1980's   ;   Date digital: 2007-08-14
Type Collection ; Text ; Images ;
Format approx. 117cartons ; 
Source D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, Manuscript Collections M2007.12.01-117
Language English
Relation East Riverside Urban Redevelopment Project Photographs, D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNCA ; Map Asheville, http://gis.ashevillenc.gov/mapasheville/developmentmapper/ ; Heritage of Black Highlanders Collection, D.H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, UNCA ; Emergency Relief in North Carolina. A Record of the Development and the Activities of the North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, 1932-1935. North Carolina Emergency Relief Commission, State Administrator, Mrs. Thomas O'Berry. Edited by J.S. Kirk, Walter A. Cutter [and] Thomas W. Morse by North Carolina Emergency Relief Administration, Documenting the American South, UNC Chapel Hill .
Coverage 1959-1980 ; Asheville, NC
Rights No restrictions;  Copyright: Retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendents, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Donor Donor 310 ;  City of Asheville, NC.
Acquisition 2007-07-20 (onsite) ; official transfer from City of Asheville, Council to UNCA, October 16, 2007
Citation Asheville Urban Renewal Files, Special Collections, D.H. Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina at Asheville
Processed by Special Collections staff, 2007
Last update 2007-08-14 ; 2007-09-30 ; 2008-01-25 ; 2008-02-24

Context: TIME LINE
  HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONERS and AUTHORITY DIRECTORS
Series

Arrangement

 

Series 01

History
 

Series 02

Redevelopment Commission General administrative files
  Series 03

Housing Authority of the City of Asheville general files

      HACA Administrative files
      HACA Rehabilitation Assistance program files
      HACA Social worker’s case files
  Series 04 Project records (alphabetical or chronological)
     

Sub series: Project administrative files

      Sub series: Project files (larger series by type, ex. Appraisal, Acquisition, Street & Site Improvement Contracts, etc.)
      Note: Recommend using project names rather than project numbers for clarity.  While some projects can be identified by number, not all project numbers are evident (if they exist) and there would be substantial confusion if R-48 were used for both East Riverside and East End/Valley Street.
  Series 05 Airport Clear Zone project files
    Arco Road Bridge Improvement project files
    Asheville Downtown Commercial Complex project files
    Biltmore Ave. project files
  Series 06

NC R-13 - Civic Redevelopment project files

      Civic Redevelopment project: Administrative files
      Civic Redevelopment project: Acquisition and relocation files
      Civic Redevelopment project: Appraisal files
  Series 07 Clingman Avenue project files
  Series 08

East End/Valley Street project files

      East End/Valley Street project: Administrative files
      East End/Valley Street project: Acquisition files
      East End/Valley Street project: Disposal files
      East End/Valley Street project: Relocation files
  Series 09

NC R-48 - East Riverside project files

      East Riverside project: Administrative files
      East Riverside project: Acquisition files
      East Riverside project: Appraisal files
      East Riverside project: Disposal files
      East Riverside project: Rehabilitation loan & grants files
      East Riverside project: Relocation files
      East Riverside project: Reuse Appraisal files
      East Riverside project: Street & Site improvement contract files
  Series 10 Elderly housing project files
  Series 11 Haywood/Wall Street Redevelopment project files
  Series 12 Hazel Mill Road Bridge project files
  Series 13 Head of Montford  project files
  Series 14 Killiam Road Bridge project files
  Series 15 Lower Hominy project files
  Series 16 Model Cities project files [See also Model Cities]
  Series 17 Montford Complex project files
  Series 18 Murdoch Bridge project files
  Series 19 NC 7-3 project files
  Series 20 NC 7-4 project files
  Series 21 NC 7-5 project files
  Series 22 NC 7-6 project files
  Series 23 Pack Plaza project files
  Series 24 Pearson Bridge project files
  Series 25 Randolph Elementary School project files
  Series 26 South Pack project files
  Series 27 Publications
    Asheville City
      "Inside East Riverside"
      "How Shall We Grow?"
      "What Is It All About"
      "East Riverside, Asheville, N.C."
      "Public Hearing on the East Riverside Urban Renewal Project Given by the Asheville Redevelopment Commission, 1966"
      "Keeping the Promise: 50 Years of the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, 1940-1990."
      "The Land of the Sky A Summary of the Population and Economy of Metropolitan Asheville"
      "Study Design: Asheville Rehabilitation and Renewal Program"
      "City of Asheville Housing Code" (1970 Edition)
      "Consultation Report Transient Housing Survey"
      "'64 '65 Progress Report
Redevelopment Commission of the City of Asheville"
      "Model Cities...Your Chance"
      "Redevelopment Commission of the City of Asheville 1969"
      "Redevelopment Commission of the City of Asheville 1970"
      "Housing and Urban Renewal Challenge of the 70's '71"
      "Rehabilitation Pamphlet"
      "Asheville Downtown Commercial Complex Redevelopment Plan"
      "45 Years of Bridging the Gap : The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville,1985 Annual Report"
        Community Improvers Newsletters
      North Carolina State
      United States Federal
       
  Series 28 Maps  (Includes (OS) oversize maps)
      Associated with a project (by project -alphabetical)
      Not associated with a project (alphabetical by name on map)
  Series 29 Photographs
    Photographs I - General and not associated with a specific project

Photographs II - General and not associated with a specific project

See also:  East Riverside Urban Redevelopment  Project Photographs

     
  Series 30 Charts and Tables - General and not associated with  specific project
    Working Papers and Documents for HACA Project
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