Answer Man: A new ‘Mellowdrome’ for Carrier Park? Little Girl statue MIA at Harrah’s Cherokee Center-Asheville plaza?

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Today’s round of questions, my smart-aleck replies and the real answers:

Question: I’m one of many who are very grateful that the Melodrome has been reopened, and I’ve been riding there almost daily, along with other cyclists, bladers, skaters, walkers and runners. But I recently heard that the city has received money to rebuild the river parks, which is great, but the city also plans to tear down and rebuild the Melodrome in a similar configuration. In doing so, they would have to close it for a year. I can’t imagine doing that. Clean it up, yes. Beautify it, yes. But spend money and limited resources to tear it down and rebuild it? NO. There have to be better uses for rebuilding funds than that. The Melodrome track survived Helene virtually unscathed; the only asset at the old Carrier Park to do that. Please don’t remove that sole survivor and the last vestige of the old speedway in an effort to make Carrier Park new and improved. Some things can’t be improved, only preserved. Can you find out what the plan is here?

My answer: Well, this does track with the city’s slogan: “If it ain’t broke but you’ve got federal funding coming in, definitely fix it.”…

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