Sorry, West Asheville. There is no roller skating rink heading to that vacant dollar store building on Haywood Road.
The official-looking, stylized blue lettering on the window of 609 Haywood Road created such a stir when it appeared sometime before April Fool’s Day, teasing: “coming soon… West AVL Roller Rink.”
West Asheville forums filled with curious comments on social media and real estate broker A. Ryan Israel of Ellington Realty Group was flooded with phone calls from people who saw his number listed on a sign in another part of the window.
Israel said he returned from a family vacation to see that his phone had been “blowing up.” But as he made clear, “It’s not real.” There is no roller rink on the way.
Israel insists he has no idea who put up the official-looking lettering, but he was enjoying the “free press” he was getting anyway.
Whether it was a joke, a hoax, wishful thinking or something else, it did give him an idea.
“Given the response of the community, I think someone needs to get a business plan and put that in,” Israel tells 828newsNOW.
For now, there’s only room to skate in the parking area around the building.