Vance Monument will remain torn down after NC Supreme Court rules in favor of city

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Asheville city leaders can move forward with plans for the site of what was once the Vance Monument in Pack Square Plaza.

A unanimous decision from the North Carolina Supreme Court was announced on Friday, March 22, rejecting a lawsuit challenging the city's removal of the monument.

The monument, which has stood in Pack Square Plaza since 1898, was dismantled down to its base in May 2021 after Asheville City Council voted to remove it earlier that year. The Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th Regiment North Carolina Troops sued to stop the removal of the monument erected in honor of former North Carolina governor and slave owner Zebulon Vance, who was born in Buncombe County.

The statue’s removal came in 2021, sparked in part because of the death of George Floyd, which had caused nationwide protests on several Confederate statues in different parts of the U.S.

Friday’s State Supreme Court announcement was celebrated by city representatives and the co-chair of the Vance Monument Task Force.

“This space can now strengthen relationships and build community and help us to heal our community,” Oralene Simmons said.

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In December 2022, the N.C. Supreme Court blocked an April 2022 judgment from the N.C. Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the city and allowed the removal of the monument and agreed to review the case. The state Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in the case in November 2023.

Meantime, when it comes to the possibility that this case gets taken all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, a city attorney argued that’s not likely to happen.

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“I think it would be somewhat difficult. You’re talking about two parties both from the same state. I don’t believe there are constitutional issues at play in this. There never have been. We think that outside of the state’s jurisdiction there really is nothing more to litigate,” Eric Edgerton explained.

The city said it plans to remove the base of the statue as quickly as possible. A $3 million grant has been given to redevelop and reimagine the space where the statue once stood.