Final stations of Urban Trail dedicated today

By Melissa Williams
Asheville Citizen-Times
POSTED: May 15, 2002 10:51 p.m.

ASHEVILLE - When the Asheville Urban Trail comes to completion today, longtime volunteer Grace Pless hopes the inspiration for the 11-year project is clear. "I'd like for all the citizens to feel that it really belongs to all of them," said Pless, who served as the Urban Trail committee's first chairperson. "These are all gifts from donors to the people."

By Steve Dixon Brian Van Volkinburg of Musician's Workshop in Asheville turns a dial on the last of the markers for the Urban Trail, station 21, "On the Move." Turning the wheel activates a sound system that produces sound effects related to the history of transportation.

Today, the trail culminates with the dedication of two final installations. Both Asheville's history and the trail's history will be celebrated beginning at 4 p.m. with the dedication of station No. 21, "On the Move," at the corner of Walnut and North Market streets, followed by the 4:45 p.m. dedication of station No. 2, "Crossroads," at the foot of the Vance Monument. These will be the last two pieces in the 1.7-mile downtown trail that consists of 30 stations featuring mostly locally made art. The installations practically beg to be touched, and it's almost as if you're getting away with something when you do. It's a museum without walls and with no real rules. "You can climb all over them," said Tucker Cooke, a UNC Asheville professor and artist who worked on many installations. He remembers his original sketch for station No. 14, "Shopping Daze," which features three sassy sculptures of women. "It was something that just came to me, but it ended up being pretty much what you see there today." These days, kids spill out onto the sidewalk near Malaprop's Bookstore and often lean on the station to drink coffee or chat.