ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — First come construction crews. Then come the butterflies.
With the Asheville City Council’s unanimous approval of a nearly $1.1 million construction contract on Tuesday night, the stage is set for work to begin on a long-awaited “Gateway to the Southern Appalachians” project at the Western North Carolina Nature Center.
The contract goes to J. Bartholemew Construction, LLC, of Hendersonville, which submitted the lowest-priced of three bids for the work.
By mid-2025, a welcoming plaza and gathering space will take shape near the entrance to the park, including a new, kid-friendly exhibit teaching about the life cycle of the butterfly, a new gift shop and more.
“We’re very excited. This is going to be something special,” said Nature Center Director Chris Gentile.
He said construction crews should begin mobilizing in the next month and a half.
Some of the first work might bring back memories for long-time Asheville residents, as an old elephant house structure is being removed. Once a traditional zoo, the facility once included exotic animals before they were phased out starting in the 1970s to make way for area native species. The last Asian elephant, Henrietta, died in 1982, but the old elephant house remained and often drew questions from nostalgic visitors who remembered Henrietta.
With the elephant house removal, the first phases of work also will include a new, hillside area for sheep and goats to call home, so the older farm yard corrals are being taken down and relocated, Gentile said.
The most colorful parts of the project come later, as the butterfly section takes shape. Visitors won’t be able to ignore giant-sized butterfly shade structures, large caterpillar play features for the kids, a buttrefly wing wall for taking selfies, and more scientific exhibits that will give visitors a chance to see metamorphosis happen before their eyes.
The Nature Center will be displaying chrysalis — the pupal stage of a butterfly’s development — in special eclosion boxes, and visitors can watch, hope for good timing, and possibly see butterflies as they emerge.
There also will be gardens of native plants designed to attract butterflies, and Gentile said it’s all designed to inspire local residents.
“The whole goal is to show people what they can do even with modest sized yards,” he said. “It’s really going to model citizen science.”
The full project, expected to cost $1.7 million, includes funding from the City of Asheville, Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority and donations to Friends of the WNC Nature Center.
By summer of 2025, “There are going to be a lot of fun, interactive elements for kids,” and the center will take steps so visits aren’t disrupted in the meantime, Gentile said.