$3.1 million cafeteria was added to the campus. On October 5, 2008, then Senator Barack Obama visited Asheville High School in his race for the White House. Over 25,000 people showed up at the Football Stadium to see Obama deliver his rally speech. In 2016, city school officials identified $25 million in needed repairs. The biggest problem was the roof, with thousands of clay tiles which would all have to be removed (and possibly replaced afterward) for the work. Jack Thomson, executive director of the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County, called the building "a master work of Ellington." Notable alumni Sarah Addison Allen, author John Avery, former NFL and CFL running back Crezdon Butler, NFL and CFL cornerback Chris Chalk, actor in The Newsroom and Homeland Dave Cheadle, former 1st round MLB draft pick by the New York Yankees Indigo De Souza, musician, singer, songwriter Lawson Duncan, former professional tennis player Joe Felmet, civil rights advocate Sallie Ford, lead singer and guitarist for Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside Warren Haynes, musician, singer, and songwriter Bill Hendon, author, POW/MIA activist, and two-term Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina's 11th district Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice, former NFL running back for the Washington Redskins and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Leonard Little, former NFL defensive end and Super Bowl XXXIV champion with the Saint Louis Rams Rhonda Mapp, former WNBA player for Charlotte Sting and Los Angeles Sparks Rashanda McCants, former WNBA player for the Minnesota Lynx and Tulsa Shock Mary Montgomery, women's swimmer who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics Jeoffrey Pagan, former NFL defensive end and 2x BCS National Champion with Alabama Marisha Pessl, author of Special Topics in Calamity Physics Buzz Peterson, former North Carolina Tar Heel's basketball player and current head coach of the UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball team Adam Reed, voice actor, writer, director and producer Ray Roberts, former NFL offensive tackle Caleb Rudow, member of the North Carolina House of Representatives Charles Thomas, former MLB player Johnny White, former NFL and CFL running back William Winkenwerder Jr., CEO of Highmark, the eighth largest health insurer in the United States References External links Official School Website The Cougar Sports Network Thinkquest AHS History The Alumni Center SILSA website School buildings completed in 1927 Public high schools in North Carolina School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Art Deco architecture