Let’s dream big for Asheville’s so-called Pit of Despair. What would you like to do on the 1-acre Haywood Street site across from the U.S. Cellular Center and the Bascilica of St. Lawrence? The Asheville Design Center, which has been charged with leading a visioning process for the site, will host an open house, create a creative space where people can think beyond form. Instead, they’re asking people to begin with function: What do you want to DO there, not what do you want to SEE there.

There will be a 3D model of the property and other visual aids. People can put up sticky notes on a wall. They can also go out to the property and play a “Place Game.”

The Asheville Design Center will ask people to go out to Pritchard and Pack Square parks with surveys, to think about what works, what’s missing and how whatever happens on the Haywood Street property can complement the two existing parks in downtown.

So come on down. Get creative, share your ideas. Let’s make it a great place with lots of uses, inviting for a wide range of people. Don’t think about budget. Don’t think about what it looks like. Think about what you would like to do there.

The feedback will be compiled for the Haywood Street Advisory Team’s consideration.

Here is some background on the committee and the visioning process: http://bit.ly/1pnQI1u