BATTERY PARK HOTEL

The Battery Park Hotel is a landmark that dominates the heart of Asheville. To be considered “Asheville smart,” one must know its history. Today’s Battery Park Hotel bears no resemblance to the original Queen Anne-style structure built in 1886 by Colonel Frank Coxe. Colonel Coxe, a prominent figure and Vice President of the Western North Carolina Railroad, built the hotel to accommodate the influx of tourists as Asheville gained recognition as a destination. Towering atop the 80-foot-high Battery Porter Hill, the original hotel attracted the rich and famous from across the U.S. and Europe. It was a three-story, elegant structure featuring fireplaces in every room, verandahs with stunning mountain views, and advanced technology such as electric lights and elevators.

After Coxe’s death, Edwin Wiley Grove, a medicine magnate who had fallen in love with Asheville, purchased the hotel. Grove realized that the 50-year-old structure was outdated, as automobile tourists outnumbered train travelers, making it costly to maintain. He demolished the original hotel, leveled Battery Porter Hill, and constructed the Grove Arcade alongside a new modern hotel, retaining the name Battery Park. The new developments revitalized Asheville’s city center, but World War II disrupted the district when the military commandeered the Grove Arcade in 1942. The Arcade was eventually returned to the city 20 years later, where it regained its place as a hub for shopping, dining, and nightlife.

The new Battery Park Hotel, completed in 1924, was designed by W.L. Stoddard of New York. The 14-story structure was built with reinforced concrete, brick, limestone, and terra cotta trim, featuring a Mission Revival-style roof. Its 220 rooms included the latest conveniences, and terraces provided breathtaking views of the city and mountains. While its design reflected the common 1920s hotel aesthetic, combining Neoclassical and “Spanish romanticism,” Asheville author Thomas Wolfe likened it to a “gigantic biscuit-cutter” of similar hotels nationwide.

The hotel has a notorious past, with stories of hauntings adding to its mystique. In 1936, 19-year-old Helen Clevenger was found murdered in Room 224, her body bearing gunshot wounds and slashes. Martin Moore, a 22-year-old hall boy, confessed to the crime and was executed later that year. Guests and staff have reported sightings of her spirit and other paranormal events in the room. Additionally, in 1943, Clifton Alheit, a U.S. Government official, jumped to his death from the roof, an event echoed in a similar incident in 1972. To this day, witnesses claim to see ghostly figures falling from the roof.

The Battery Park Hotel ceased operating as a hotel on October 30, 1972. Today, it is owned by National Church Residences and primarily serves as senior housing. The ground floor houses commercial businesses, while the upper floors have been converted into apartments, leaving the once-grand hotel to stand as a sentinel over the Grove Arcade and Asheville’s storied history.