From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Following a late-night April 23 blaze that heavily damaged its future site in the  Asheville Waste Paper building on Lyman Street in Asheville’s River Arts District, Salvage Station announced on April 25 that it will rebuild the venue.

Specifically, Salvage Station vowed to bring live music back to the River Arts District, preserve the structure (a McMahan/Pace family property) and save the landmark “Homer Simpson/Bender” mural. 

The April 23 fire followed a smaller incident at the same location on the same day, which was already undergoing a turbulent, flood-delayed relocation process. 

Meanwhile,Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported the following on April 25:

“As previously reported, fire crews were called to the Asheville Waste Paper around 11:15 p.m. on April 23.

“As crews arrived, they found the building fully engulfed in flames.

“The 11 p.m. fire followed an earlier incident on the same day in which a smaller fire was extinguished without major damage.”

As for the fire, witness Brendan Norris told News 13, “I was just driving by on this little lonely road, you know, and I look up and I could smell smoke. So I looked up in the second window – it looked like somebody was having a fire up there, so I called one of my buddies who’s a firefighter. I called it in. Sure enough, 10 minutes later, phew, she blew up in flames.”

The building sustained “significant fire damage” — and the blaze was extinguished by 4:52 a.m. April 24. 

“The cause of the fire is under investigation; however, Salvage Station staff member ScareKrow said the music venue regularly encounters squatters and other trespassers,” News 13 noted.

The Salvage Station music venue’s previous location — at 468 Riverside Drive — was destroyed by 2024 flooding resulting from Tropical Storm Helene, which ravaged the area on Sept. 27, 2024.

Salvation Station’s original Riverside Drive location was scheduled for closure to make way for the I-26 Connector project in Asheville, but Helene hastened the process.

The historic industrial structure on Lyman Street that burned is expected to be rebuilt into a larger, indoor venue than Salvation Station’s previous building.