UNC Greensboro prides itself in creating a space full of natural beauty for students to enjoy on their way to a class or while enjoying a cup of coffee with friends. UNCG is the first university in North Carolina to be named a bike-friendly campus. In Spring 2024, it unveiled new eco-friendly Bird scooters in partnership with the City of Greensboro.
When you’ve grown your student body for more than 125 years – from 198 to 18,000 – while positioned in a textile hub of North Carolina, you’re bound to experience growing pains. Much of it has been chronicled by UNCG University Archives’ “Spartan Stories” blog. UNCG has risen to the occasion to become more pedestrian friendly. Some of the most iconic walkways of UNCG took dedication, debate, and petitions to become what they are today.
Amble Along the Avenue
It might be surprising to learn after walking past its flower-studded medians that UNCG’s main street was not always so inviting for walking. It took the imagination of a renowned landscape architect, the determination of one alumna, and a multi-million-dollar bond referendum to make College Avenue the perfect spot for a casual stroll.
The corridor, which was recently featured in the previous UNCG Magazine, came about thanks to Kittie Dorcas Dees, an alumna when UNCG was the State Normal and Industrial School. She proposed the project to her boss Warren H. Manning, a landscape architect whose handiwork graced Capitol Hill, the Chicago World’s Fair, and prestigious universities.
However, the industrial boom of the 20th century and the mass adoption of motor vehicles turned College Avenue into a driver’s delight and a pedestrian’s nightmare. The school had to build a bridge and crosswalks to keep walkers safe.
UNCG received $160 million in a bond referendum in 2000 and used $6.5 million to make College Avenue pedestrian-friendly. New lighting was added, along with a landscape makeover. The result is what you see today: a space that prioritizes students racing from lunch to their next class then walking back to their dorms at the end of the day.
Walk on Walker
Walker Avenue bookends campus, but it used to cross all the way through it, and the University butted heads with the City of Greensboro to make it that way.
If a student at the Woman’s College wanted to go to the gym, then visit the student center before their science class, then study at the library, and finally eat at the dining hall, she had to use bridges to cross Walker Avenue four times.
In the post-war boom in the 1940s, Walker became a convenient route from western Greensboro to downtown. As a result, the city was not eager to go along with the Woman’s College proposal to expand and permanently close Walker between McIver Street and Forest Avenue. The city proposed alternatives, including a tunnel.
Chancellor Walter Clinton Jackson worked diligently to defend the college’s role in women’s education and in Greensboro’s economic prosperity. In 1947, the city council finally agreed, and that part of Walker Avenue closed the following year, allowing the campus to fill the space with the Jackson Library and an expansion to what is now the Stone Building.
Gallop Beneath Gate City
While a tunnel beneath Walker did not pan out, another tunnel became an award-winning success. The Railroad Pedestrian Underpass helped UNCG expand south of Gate City Boulevard, where students can now walk to get a workout at the Kaplan Center or dine at one of Spartan Village’s eateries.
The underpass took shape ten years ago with New Atlantic Contracting selected as the builder. It would include a north and south plaza that could be used for events and promote more interaction with the community, particularly the growing Glenwood neighborhood to the south of UNCG.
While designing the 170-foot-long concrete mix tunnel, New Atlantic worked with Fred Patrick, UNCG’s director of facilities design and construction. He selected earth tones for the walls to make pedestrians feel grounded and, for the tunnel ceiling, a white base accented by UNCG’s colors blue and gold.
The innovations to safely build beneath three train tracks would go on to set industry precedent. The hard work would be recognized by the construction magazine ENR Southeast, which named it the best project under $10 million in 2014, and the Carolinas AGC construction trade group, which gave it a Pinnacle Award for exemplary work in the industry.
Turn onto Tate
The changing student body has always influenced the shops lining Tate Street. One dramatic shift took place in the 1960s. The Woman’s College became co-ed, taking the name UNC Greensboro. In the meantime, the nation saw a change in social norms toward drinking, and the Civil Rights sit-ins led to equal service regardless of race.
Tate Street began catering to the desire for nightlife, and bars moved into the storefronts that used to be grocery stores and soda shops. Tate Street even hosted acts such as R.E.M. before they became famous enough to perform in large concert venues. A modernization project commenced in the 1970s, culminating in Tate Street’s two unique parking wings.
The entertainment mindset continued into the late 70s and early 80s, with the restaurant House of Pizza Cinema setting up screens to broadcast MTV. Students could rent music from Platterpus Records or discover independent and imported releases sold by Record Exchange.
In 1985, it would be shaped by yet another shift in social dynamics. The age limit for consuming alcohol was raised to 21, and many of its bars closed as a significant amount of potential clientele from the University were no longer legally allowed to buy a drink.
New restaurants have since taken their place, reversing the decline. Tate Street remains an eclectic source of fun for students in need of a quick bite or shopping.
Promenade in Peabody
President Charles McIver envisioned Peabody Park as an educational park. He installed walking trails with plans to add stone plaques with inspiring texts for passers-by, but the development stalled upon his death in 1906. Still, the park continued to play a role in college life. Physician Anna Gove required students to spend at least sixty minutes a day in the park for exercise. It was used as a dairy farm for the dining halls and a horticulture lab. It was a stage for plays, pageants, and festivals.
Despite their efforts, the park struggled to attract students and fell into disrepair, and the University took some of the land to build residence halls.
The tide began to turn in 1994 while trustees discussed where to build a School of Music. Students circulated a petition and held rallies and protests to preserve Peabody Park. In response, Chancellor Patricia Sullivan formed the Peabody Park Committee.
In the 2000s, crews got to work, pulling up invasive plants and installing signs to educate visitors about the flora and fauna. In 2010, the preservation committee earned the Greensboro Beautiful annual service award. Today, students at UNCG benefit from 34 acres full of shady trees along walking paths in their own backyard. The Sustainability tile in the UNCG mobile app allows users to identify the flora and fauna that call Peabody Park home.
UNCG provides a map of walking trails throughout campus here.
Read the Spring 2024 UNCG Magazine’s story about “Campus Beauty” here.
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Sean Norona, David Lee Row, Martin W. Kane, Jenn M. Smith, and Alycee Byrd, University Communications
Additional photography courtesy of Special Collections & University Archives
