Asheville approves repairs to historic Municipal Building downtown
Workers will replace the Fire Station 1 slab at 100 Court Plaza while police stay open and one fire company remains in the historic downtown building.
The Fire Station 1 apparatus-bay slab at Downtown Asheville’s Municipal Building will be torn out and replaced while police and fire operations keep running. The project at 100 Court Plaza was approved by Asheville City Council at its June 23 meeting, and construction is set to begin this summer.
The work will last about one year and centers on a structural problem identified in a 2021 assessment: the elevated slab floor in the Fire Station 1 bay is not strong enough for today’s heavy-duty apparatus. The municipal complex houses Asheville Police Department headquarters and Fire Station 1.
The police station will remain open to the public throughout construction, and emergency service will stay on site. Fire Station 1 will keep one fire company there while two trucks respond from nearby stations. Asheville Fire Department administrative staff moved in 2025 to leased office space nearby, reducing the amount of day-to-day activity that still has to fit inside the downtown landmark.
The city also plans to temporarily use 179 S. Charlotte Street as a fitness and wellness center for first responders while the Municipal Building gym is unavailable. Nicole George is listed as the project manager on the city’s project page. The work is a structural repair project to demolish and replace the slab in the Fire Station 1 apparatus bay.
Built in 1925, the Municipal Building has long anchored civic life in downtown Asheville. It is a two-story dark red brick-faced building with limestone trim, and local historical sources attribute its construction to James Vester Miller, the African American brick mason and contractor whose work helped shape Asheville’s built landscape. A plaque honoring Miller will be placed on the front of the building.
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