Six projects received about $3.9 million in grants on Wednesday from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.
The authority’s board members unanimously approved the awarding of the grants on Wednesday during its regular monthly meeting.
City of Asheville projects received about 80 percent of the grants. Those included work for greenways, soccer fields and the Western North Carolina Nature Center.
Roughly $1.7 million in grant funding will help pay for a project that includes the Beaucatcher Greenway, the west bank of the French Broad River Greenway and a crosswalk and river access at Amboy Road Park.
“This is exciting,” said Stephanie Monson Dahl, Asheville’s Riverfront Redevelopment Office director. “This is funding the community’s plans and is funding for making this a better place.
“These projects won’t only be helpful to visitors to Asheville,” Monson Dahl continued. “They also improve the quality of life for everyone who lives in Asheville.”
Riverfront-development projects received $1.8 million in tourism grants last year.
The soccer fields at the John B. Lewis complex, which the city owns, received $1.1 million for resurfacing. The Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association submitted the grant application on behalf of the fields.
That award allowed city of Asheville officials to use another $900,000 from the City Improvements Program for work on the fields.
A $313,000 grant for the WNC Nature Center to upgrade its gateway will enable development of a permanent butterfly exhibit, among other improvements. The Friends of the WNC Nature Center submitted the application for those funds.
The Asheville Museum of Science, formerly the Colburn Earth Science Museum, received $400,000 for its planned move to an expanded space in downtown’s Wells Fargo building.
Though The Collider applied for $350,000, the climate-science center received $150,000 in grant funding. That money will pay for technology enhancements that will midweek conference and business meetings. The Collider obtained $150,000 last year.
Riverglass Public Glass Studio School collected $200,000 in grant funding for a River Arts District project that will include classes, demonstrations, exhibitions and glass artist studio space.
Authority board members chose to not provide any money to The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design to pay for a conference facility.
The application process began in January. A total of 16 candidates submitted applications by the June deadline. Seven advanced to the next stage.
Criteria for review of the applications included evaluating whether the projects met the legislative mandate of create overnight visits.
Reviewers, who visited the site of each project, also considered economic impact, feasibility and financial strength.
Applicants gave presentations during a two-day review.
As of October the total fund contained about $3.2 million.
Stephanie Pace Brown, executive director of the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Tourism Development Authority board members will vote in February to approve awarding $700,000 for the French Broad River Greenway.
Construction is scheduled to begin in May.
Tourism grant money comes from a portion of the room tax revenues paid by overnight visitors in Buncombe County lodging accommodations.
The grant program began in 2001. Since its inception, the authority has awarded more than $23 million in grants for 27 projects.
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