The owners of the music venue The Salvage Station are about to engage in the ultimate upcycling. They’re transforming an old paper recycling site into a new indoor music venue.
This week, owners Danny McClinton and Katie Hild, announced an agreement with Asheville Waste Paper Company to create a Salvage Station redux.
The 13.5 acre site sits in the heart of the River Arts District about a mile from the original Salvage Station which was destroyed by Hurricane Helene last year.
The new venue operated as a recycling facility for decades. After severe flooding, the site did not reopen. The recycling facility is perhaps best known as the place with the iconic “Homer Simpson mural” that looms over the district. That Homer Simpson building will become the new indoor venue.
Hild told BPR she’s thrilled to bring “a magical place” back to the River Arts District. It joins local businesses like the art gallery, Marquee, and Cultivate Climbing, which have both already reopened in the storm-damaged area.
“Having this opportunity in front of us brings hope and happiness to so many people and we're just really so grateful for the opportunity,” she said.
The Salvage Station got its name from its original building, which the owners morphed eight years ago from an old salvage yard into an outdoor music venue.
“There were so many remnants from the salvage yard,” Hilde recalled. “You'd see truck parts and different art installations that were done from scraps and pieces that were found on the property. We always paid homage to what it had been.”
While there’s a lot that couldn’t be saved from the original space, Hild said some old murals, including one of Nina Simone and Bob Marley, are still in good shape. So is “an old beater Salvage Station truck” that “miraculously survived the storm.”
The Salvage Station has not announced an opening date or construction timeline. The development will kick off with an extensive cleanup and rehabilitation of the site.
