In February 2024, plans were announced for a park that would feature a bike pump track, walking path and event lawn that would be built on the site of the former Beacon Blanket Factory in Swannanoa.
While construction on the project continued and portions of the park were put in place, progress was stalled when Tropical Storm Helene swept through the region in September. Swannanoa was among the hardest hit areas.
Now, construction on the park is back on track with a “soft community opening” set for sometime “later this year,” according to co-founder of the park Casey Watkins.
Watkins, along with business partners Meredith Ellison and Brandon Ellison, are co-founders of both the park and the Swannanoa-based Insurtech company Quility.
“I know it’s looked quiet from the outside,” Watkins said. “But behind the scenes we’ve been deep in permitting, design, engineering. All the heavy-lift stuff that has to happen before the visible stuff can start.”
He said the public can expect to “see some real movement in the next coming weeks and months” as portions of the bike park are brought in and other aspects of the park are completed.
Watkins said the park sits out of the floodplain and received only “a little bit” of damage from the storm. He said this damage was caused by a creek that runs through the property jumping the banks and damaging part of the pump track, which Watkins said has been repaired now.
When completed, Watkins said the bike park will be the “largest of its kind in North and South America.” A 1-mile walking track for all ages and an event lawn will also be parts of the park.
Watkins said the hope is for all three parts to be open for the soft community open.
“We likely will ease into any sort of large, heavily promoted grand opening just because there is still a lot of work to do,” Watkins said. “We just want to naturally let the park get on its feet, and the soft opening would be a little more about letting the local community come experience it.”
Having a spot where the community can “experience some joy with each other again” is what Watkins described as the purpose of the park.
“We just feel that the park will be a catalyst for the community to have a place to connect, have a place where there’s jobs being create, where there’s community buzz again,” Watkins said.
He said there is “a real sense of something shifting” in Swannanoa after Helene, as businesses new and old begin to open up.
“Swannanoa has always had grit,” Watkins said. “Now you’re seeing that grit turn into energy and momentum. There’s just the spark again.”
He said it “feels really good” in Swannanoa, even with all of the work that still needs to be done.
Watkins, a Swannanoa native, said the energy in the town is something he has not seen in his lifetime.
“I just think it speaks to the resilience of what was practically ground zero,” Watkins said. “Feeling for this community to be going through this and experiencing what it is and to have everyone rallying together to do this thing right with intentionality. It’s just a really cool thing to see being a native of this area.
Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.
