2016 Downtown Greenway Recap

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  • Public meetings held at Action Greensboro on February 25th for public input on proposed design for Phase 4 along railroad corridor.
  • Held several volunteer workdays at the Innovation Cornerstone to prepare the area near the stream bank for the Bird, Bee, & Butterfly Pollinator Garden; volunteers from the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society, Piedmont Bird Club, Carolina Butterfly Society, NC Native Plant Society, Peacehaven Farm, NC A&T, and UNCG participated.
  • Downtown Greensboro Restaurant Week was held August 22-25 and included 23 restaurants this year with a % of proceeds benefiting the Downtown Greenway. We are still tabulating proceeds from the event.
  • Pints for Progress, an event to celebrate the upcoming groundbreaking for Phase 2e/3a was held on September 20th at Joymongers Brewing Company. Over 50 people attended to celebrate and learn more about the  upcoming plans for construction.
  • Constructed and opened Innovation Cornerstone at Woven Works Park at the corner of Lindsay and Murrow Blvd on September 24th.
  • 7th Annual Run 4 the Greenway moved to Cumberland Park and Woven Works Park and held on September 24th.  Partnered with Bennett College for their 90th Anniversary and raised $11,000 from event for the Downtown Greenway.
  • Began construction on the northern leg on Eugene between Fisher Avenue and Smith Street.
  • Kimley-Horn completed the functional design for the railroad corridor on the west side between Spring Garden and Smith Street (they also worked on design of the continuation of the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway from Smith Street to Markland Avenue), and were awarded the design contract for the engineered design for that section.
  • Successful passage of Parks & Recreation Bond package including $7 million for the Downtown Greenway that will be used to construct Phase 4 along railroad corridor.
  • FaceBook: 3,678 Likes; Twitter: 4,264 Followers;  Instagram:  2,461 Followers;  Klout score: 63
  • 34 community meetings and events serving 2,216 people.
  • An average of 2,500 people using the open sections of the Downtown Greenway each month.
  • New businesses opened who credit the Downtown Greenway in part for their move or opening include Joymongers Brewing Company, Thomas Tire, and Morehead Foundry representing over $7 million in private economic development bringing the total attributed to the Downtown Greenway to over $215 million.IMG_7868
  • Featured in a national book published by the National Endowment for the Arts: How to do Creative Placemaking in which they identified placemaking projects around the country that can serve as models.  The Downtown Greenway was one of the 13 case studies featured – focusing on Under.Pass. that illustrated connecting neighborhoods through public art.
  • The Downtown Greenway partnered with Greensboro Parks & Recreation to celebrate the 19th annual National Trails Day on June 4th at Cumberland Park.  It was a wonderful day with urban hikes and bike rides, live music by AMRodEO, food trucks, activities for kids and adults, and a talk about the Innovation Cornerstone.
  • Speaking engagements to groups include:  tour of Morehead Park for the statewide women’s leadership in Parks & Recreation conference, Transportation Alliance of the Piedmont Think and Drink event – focused on economic development, Piedmont Transportation Professionals Trails Summit – focus on value and lessons learned from p3
  • Participated in the NC Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations conference that was held in Greensboro May 11-13. Presented a very well received presentation about the Downtown Greenway with Adam Fischer, assisted Daniel Amstutz with his bike tour including the Tradition and Innovation Cornerstone sites, and led a mobile tour of both the open and planned sections of the Downtown Greenway.