Answer Man: New Starbucks opening? Chimney swifts return?
Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:
Question: What is the new building under construction behind the McDonald’s on Long Shoals Road at Biltmore Park? If it’s the new Starbucks, when will it open? And are they opening another store on Airport Road?
My answer: I will only respond to this question if you ask for a “grande” answer. And it will cost you $14.
Real answer: “We are happy to confirm that we will be opening a new location in Biltmore Park in late September,” said Starbucks spokeswoman Haley Nieman. “The store will be about 1,800 square feet and will employ 25-30 partners (employees). At this time, we have no additional store opening plans to announce in Asheville.”
In July, I wrote a story about new retail development coming to the Airport Road commercial corridor, which will include a Hobby Lobby store, a Starbucks and a Culver’s upscale burger restaurant. The developer stated in that story the site, directly across Airport Road from SouthRidge Shopping Center, will be home to a Starbucks.
Question: Do you know what date is forecast for the chimney swifts to pass through Asheville?
My answer: Pretty sure they’re waiting on the new Starbucks to open. It takes a lot of caffeine to fly around all day, you know.
Real answer: “Chimney Swifts will begin migrating in September and continue into early October,” said Tom Tribble, president of the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society chapter in Asheville. “The chimney swifts gather in the thousands around downtown Asheville about an hour before dusk and eventually enter large chimneys to roost for the night. It is an amazing sight to watch thousands of swifts flying around and around and then begin to fly lower and lower around the chimney until they drop into a chimney as if being sucked into a vortex.”
You can’t pin them down to a specific date, though. And no, they don’t dive into Vortex Doughnuts on the South Slope.
“Peak time is usually from mid-September to the end of October,” Tribble said. “It is impossible to predict the best date or the best location downtown. Unfortunately, the swifts do not communicate with us humans. But there are several haunts downtown that the swifts regularly visit.”
Those include the building at the intersection of Walnut and Rankin, behind the Civic Center garage, as well as the former Sheriff's Office building on Haywood Street at Montford Avenue.
“And, believe it or not, the chimney on the Asheville Citizen-Times building,” Tribble said. “There are a few others and some that are not downtown.”
If you want to check this out, the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society will hold a “Swift Night Out” on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in downtown Asheville. They will likely gather on the third or fourth floor of the Civic Center garage. More details will be available later on the Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society website (http://emasnc.org).
This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com