ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Mayor Esther Manheimer, Asheville City Council members and Western North Carolina Nature Center staff participated in a ribbon cutting today for the Gateway to the Southern Appalachians exhibit, a renovated entrance, gift shop and farmyard with a brand-new butterfly garden experience.
The event was held at 1 p.m., Thursday, April 16 at the entrance to the WNC Nature Center, 75 Gashes Creek Road.
Chris Gentile, WNC Nature Center director, Kate Frost, executive director of the Friends of the WNC Nature Center and Manheimer each took to the podium to share a few words before the ribbon cutting. They spoke to a crowd including WNC Nature Center and Friends of the WNC Nature Center staff, as well as WNC Nature Center visitors and members of the media.
Gentile noted that it had been 578 days since Tropical Storm Helene devastated Western North Carolina, including portions of the WNC Nature Center, which delayed the Gateway to the Southern Appalachians project…