Removal of Vance Monument honoring NC Civil War governor in Asheville will resume
ASHEVILLE - Nearly three years after a court-ordered halt mid-removal of a controversial Confederate governor's monument in downtown Asheville, the work can resume, the city says.
City Council voted as part of its April 23 consent agenda to re-up its contract with the firm that began removal in 2021. For an additional $109,402, on top of the original contract amount of $125,565, Chonzie, Inc., will resume taking down the base of Vance Monument — all that is left of the once towering granite obelisk.
The work is anticipated to be completed by July. City spokesperson Kim Miller said the start date isn't yet determined.
In June 2020, City Council and Buncombe County jointly passed a resolution to establish a community taskforce to recommend action related to the potential removal or repurposing of the monument, which stood in Pack Square Plaza since 1898.
Zebulon Vance was not only North Carolina governor during the Civil War, but was an enslaver and white supremacist, according to historical records, the Citizen Times has previously reported. He was born in the Reems Creek community near present-day Weaverville and practiced law in Asheville, starting a political career in the N.C. Senate that included stints as governor and the U.S. Senate. During the Civil War he served as a Confederate officer before being elected governor.
The taskforce voted 11-1 to recommend removal of the monument in November 2020. The city followed suit, voting to remove it in March 2021.
But all work froze in June 2021 in compliance with a stoppage ordered by the N.C. Court of Appeals after a lawsuit was filed by the Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops, arguing the demolition was a breach of contract because of money it raised to restore the monument in 2015.
Ultimately, the court ruled in the city's favor. The society then appealed to the state's highest court, which issued its decision — again in favor of the city — in March.
The order staying removal has been lifted, according to a city staff report.
"The contractor will have to remobilize their equipment and crews a second time, and procure sufficient traffic control measures, resulting in a need to increase the total value of their contract," it said of the contract change order approved in April.
The additional cost associated with the court mandated stop work order is $99,401 and includes an additional remobilization, storage fees and adjustments to rental and labor costs. A $10,000 contingency brings the change order to an amount not to exceed $109,402.
Upon removal, it will be the contractor's responsibility to dispose of the material. Additionally, the material will be "altered in some way" to make it impossible for the monument to be reassembled from the original material, the report said.
Of what alteration may entail, Miller told the Citizen Times that the plan would come from the contractor.
"Since there was uncertainty due to the lawsuit, this coordination has not occurred yet," she said in an April 23 email. The city declined to say where materials are being kept.
After the remaining portion of the monument base is removed, staff will work with a local landscape contractor to make further improvements to the site. MS Lean Landscaping, owned by Stephen Smith, was originally selected for that work, the Citizen Times reported in 2021.
Miller said the city is working with Smith to update the pricing and "have intentions of having him perform the work."
As for the future of Pack Square Plaza, council partnered with the McAdams Company, led by a former New York City Parks commissioner Mitchell Silver, to lead a visioning process for the central city plaza. The plan was adopted in September.
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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville to resume removal of Confederate-era Vance Monument
