![]() The transformation of the abandoned underpass into a public art destination would be called ., signaling the transformation of the railway overpass from a barrier to a point of connectivity. Art installations planned at key sites- the underpass among them-had the potential to animate the Greenway and encourage residents to use it while also enhancing the relationships between neighborhoods and businesses. Public art, in particular, was identified as key to creating the kind of welcoming and engaging environment that Greenway planners envisioned. Encouraging the use of alternative means of transportation, promoting health and wellness by encouraging physical activity, and facilitating community dialogue were important to the overall vision for the project. VISION:įrom the beginning, the Downtown Greenway was to be a signature project for Greensboro, identifying and defining the downtown by providing a safe, but aesthetically pleasing, non-vehicular way to connect with the city center. The challenge was not only to make the underpass accessible but also to create an exciting and inviting environment that would allow neighborhood residents to the south to use it as a new connector to the downtown and encourage the greater community to view it as a unique destination. An underpass, abandoned since the 1970s, also needed to be renovated in order to provide safe passage beneath the still active North Carolina Railroad. For decades, the transportation infrastructure along the proposed Greenway and south of the downtown created a material, social, and psychological barrier that needed to be overcome for the project to succeed. The Downtown Greenway project was conceived as a way to define and revitalize Greensboro’s city center, as well as a way to create better connections to and between the diverse neighborhoods that surround it, while at the same time encouraging a healthier lifestyle. The McKinsey Report addressed the areas of greatest concern and identified potential projects that could spur economic development and re-define Greensboro. In 2000, in response to a faltering economy and concern about the decline of traditional industries, six Greensboro foundations engaged the management consultant firm McKinsey & Company to study Greensboro's economic future (Action Greensboro was formed in response to their November 2000 study). In particular, physical barriers created by the rail lines of the North Carolina Railroad and the four-lane road that runs parallel to it divide the downtown area from the predominantly African American neighborhoods to its south. This lack of connections has been problematic not only because of the disjuncture itself but also because it reinforces social and racial divisions. While it tends to be well integrated by car, pedestrian networks are less developed, particularly between the downtown and areas to the south. ![]() ![]() The city of over 277,000 people is more racially diverse (56% white and 33% African American) and slightly younger (a median age of 36) than many other cities in North Carolina. ![]() To the south lie Ole Asheboro and Warnersville, the first African American communities established in the city following the Civil War, now cut off from the area by rail lines and roads. Downtown Greensboro is ringed by numerous diverse neighborhoods, each with unique character. As a central business district, not only does Greensboro’s city center serve as an engine of employment but, along with several historic sites, cultural destinations, and museums like the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, the Greensboro Cultural Center, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, and the planned Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, it is also increasingly becoming an important cultural destination. Like so many American cities, Greensboro, North Carolina, is in the midst of reconsidering its downtown area. When a plan was conceived for a four-mile, multi-use greenway that would encircle and define its downtown, Action Greensboro, a local nonprofit focused on economic, educational, and cultural development in the city, saw an opportunity to use public art along the pedestrian route as a way to transform its urban landscape and re-establish connections within the community. Photo by Ted Partrick How can public art be used to give new life to aging infrastructure and build connections between urban neighborhoods?įor decades, the overpass of a railroad line in Greensboro, North Carolina, had formed a barrier between its city center and its historically underserved neighborhoods to the south.
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