Preservation Society marks 40 years in Asheville
ASHEVILLE – Not many cities in the South can boast gargoyles and griffins guarding their downtown.
“If you look at the tourists downtown and what they’re looking at, it’s not just the mountains, it’s the built environment,” said Jack W.L. Thomson, executive director of the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. ”Outside of South Beach, Florida, Asheville has the richest array of Art Deco buildings.”
Banking on its architectural past when many cities were busy razing downtowns in the name of urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s, Asheville invested in its future as a visitor destination.
(Citizen-Times, 5/30/2016)