Bussiness
In Chimney Rock, business owners vow to rebuild after Helene
CHIMNEY ROCK — Hundreds of people milled around in front of the Lake Lure Inn & Spa Dec. 14 as dozens of area business owners sold T-shirts and souvenirs advertising their companies, Santa Claus posed for pictures and rock music blared over speakers. In the hotel’s parking lot, people clambered aboard charter buses that rolled up the winding Main Street of Chimney Rock Village, to see how the tourist enclave had changed since Tropical Storm Helene devastated it Sept. 27.
Hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops that once lined Main Street were washed away or severely damaged when the Rocky Broad River, which runs through the town, surged through the picturesque village in Rutherford County, east of Asheville and Hendersonville.
“Christmas for Chimney Rock” was a one-day-only event allowing visitors into the village to help support local businesses and to highlight recovery efforts. Access to the area has been limited since the storm while work crews clear debris and restore infrastructure.
Dan Antkowiak, a frequent visitor to the area from Albuquerque, New Mexico, looked down on Chimney Rock’s Main Street from a parking lot beside the now-shuttered Burntshirt Vineyards Tasting Room & Bistro.
“There was an ice cream place, and then this place called Genny’s, which is a diner, and they all had creekside seating,” Antkowiak said, pointing to a narrow strip of land between the street and the river that is now completely cleared. “And then there was another T-shirt shop, and Hickory Nut Brewing was all in a whole row here.”
“We lost 100% of our businesses,” Chimney Rock Mayor Peter O’Leary told the Hendersonville Times-News Dec. 13, before the event. “We also have 100% unemployment right now.”
One of two buildings housing his own Main Street business, Bubba O’Leary’s General Store, was destroyed in the storm. He said he had to lay off 11 people.
One resident who refused to evacuate, Lisa Peeler Brady, died during the storm, the village’s only fatality.
O’Leary said the town’s year-round population is between 125 and 140. He estimated that 60 locals worked at Chimney Rock State Park, which has been closed since the storm, and another 46 are business owners.
Normally, he said, 400,000 visitors per year visit Chimney Rock State Park. On a busy Saturday, 8,000 to 10,000 tourists pass through the village, he said.
Plans to rebuild
O’Leary said that many businesses hope to re-open by the summer of 2025, but for some, rebuilding could take years.
“What was about a 50-yard wide river is anywhere from 100 to 200 yards wide now,” Village Administrator Stephen G. Duncan told the Times-News on a phone call Dec. 13.
He said that five buildings along Main Street were washed away during the storm and another four had to be torn down afterward. He said an initial estimate for rebuilding the village’s roads, plus water and sewer infrastructure, was $75 million, but that figure could go much higher.
Jonathan Graef, 30, who was selling souvenirs outside Lake Lure Inn, said his family bought the Best View Motel in August 2023 and was planning to open for business in January 2025 as the Best View Inn.
“We painted the exterior, all new doors, all new windows, painted the roof, all new interior, sub floors, interior walls, all new plumbing and electrical,” he said.
He said the family had lost about $30,000 worth of materials and did not have insurance, but that a nonprofit, Spokes of Hope, was helping secure donations of lumber and flooring and providing labor to help rebuild.
Bennett Phillips, 51, was also selling souvenirs outside of Lake Lure Inn. He owns Hickory Nut Falls Family Campground with his wife Robin, whose family established it in 1970. It spans 40 acres adjacent to Chimney Rock State Park.
An office, bathhouses, cabins and campsites were washed away during Helene, Phillips said. The family was not able to return to their home near the camp for three weeks after the storm and just had power restored Dec. 12, he said.
“Our whole operation pretty much washed off along the river,” Phillips said. “It’s all in the lake now.”
O’Leary said that the village was working with various government entities to secure funds for rebuilding, and that a task force has been set up to envision how the village will take shape. Many business, he predicted, will not be able to rebuild where they once stood.
“The river showed us what it’s capable of. We have to respect that,” he said.
More: Chimney Rock shop owner finds new location, hope through kindness, month after Helene
More: Mayor: ‘Chimney Rock will not be the same but it will be better’
Deirdra Funcheon covers Henderson, Polk and Transylvania Counties for the Hendersonville Times-News. Got a tip? Email her at DFuncheon@gannett.com.
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