center city park
History of the Center City Park Site
Though German and Quaker immigrants began settling in Guilford County as early as the 1740s, the legislative act creating Greensboro was not passed until 1807.
Forty-two acres of land were purchased, and in 1809 the county seat was officially moved to Greensboro. The original plan for the town consisted of 3 streets running east-west for 3 blocks and 3 streets running north-south for 3 blocks.
The future site of Center City Park was in the northeast corner of this 1809 town plan. Friendly Avenue was then called Gaston Street. (This image and the two below it provided courtesy of the Greensboro Historical Museum.)
From Greensboro’s early history, Elm Street was lined with commercial buildings, but North Davie Street remained primarily residential until the end of World War II.
In this 1940 photo, the site of Center City Park is in the lower center, on the left side of Davie Street. The bell tower of the First Presbyterian Church building, which today houses the Greensboro Historical Museum, can be seen in the center of the photo.
The park site is seen again in the lower center, this time in 1989. Residential structures on North Davie Street have largely been replaced by parking lots. The Greensboro Historical Museum is seen in the center of the photo, now minus the bell tower.
Most building owners on North Elm Street kept up with the times by remodeling their store fronts. By 2003, as the Center City Park design process began, the building on the northeast corner of Elm Street and Friendly Avenue, seen below, was indeed thoroughly modern.
On August 7, 2003 a “Start the Park” ribbon cutting invited the community to come together on the future park site and help cut 1,500 feet of ribbon encircling the site.
After removing the existing structures and parking lots and grading the property, an Interim Park was installed to allow visitors to experience the site as an open space and imagine what features would make for the best urban park.
On March 30, 2005 a public campaign was launched to raise the funding necessary to complete the park. The BB&T hot air balloon has only visited the park once. So far.
The Interim Park opened in November 2003, and its first public event was the Festival of Lights in early December. A wireless fidelity network debuted in the park in July 2004, enabling visitors to send and receive e-mail and surf the internet from the park.
Events as large as the weekly Beach Music Concert Series, shown at left, and as small as book club meetings took place during the 17 months of the Interim Park.
In September of 2005 construction fences were erected and site preparation began. Then, Construction |
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