On Wednesday, August 8th Green Opportunities, the Asheville Housing Authority, public officials, community partners and members came together to celebrate the W.C. Reid Center renovation ground breaking.
This project milestone marks an important step forward in the rebirth of the historic Reid Center into a green jobs training and education center.
We envision the center becoming a place where people from the South Side Community and surrounding neighborhoods can access education, job training, support services and other resources that will help them achieve greater self-sufficiency and empowerment.
In attendance were local residents; elected officials such as NC Congressional Representative Patsy Keever; and even actor, singer, and songwriter Kris Kristofferson. Speakers at the event included Mayor Terry Bellamy; Mr. Arthur Eddington, former principal of the Livingston Street School (now the Reid Center); Priscilla Ndiaye , Chair of the Southside Community Advisory Board; Mr. Gene Bell, CEO of the Housing Authority; as well as the Co-Founders and directors of GO, Dwayne Barton and Dan Leroy.
Following the Ground Breaking there was a building tour to showcase the changes in the building to date, and a presentation of a Google Sketch-up fly through animation of the finished building design. Refreshments were provided by Mommacitas restaurant.
See more excellent coverage of the Reid Center groundbreaking over at the Mountain Xpress in their aptly named article, “Reid Center Rising,” written by David Forbes. You can see his original write-up about the Reid Center groundbreaking here.
