DGI discusses State of Downtown GSO
By Yasmine Regester, Peacemaker Staff Writer / April 11, 2024
Zack Matheny
With 8.6 million visits to downtown in 2023, District 3 Greensboro City Council member and President of Downtown Greensboro, Inc., Zack Matheny unveiled plans to market downtown Greensboro as a travel destination – with the historic transportation depot as a key element.
“We are thinking about a range of uses beyond transportation,” said Matheny.
The J. Douglas Galyon Depot, located at 236 E Washington St. in Greensboro, was built in 1927 as a Southern Railway train terminal and was later donated to the City of Greensboro in 1978. The station was heavily renovated in the early 2000s and now serves as a hub for Amtrak, PART, and Greyhound Lines. Currently, the station houses Carolina Blues Coffee & Bagels and a DMV Express Office.
DGI hired MIG, a California-based engineering firm with more than a dozen offices around the country, to help create the vision for a mixed-use development of the depot. Mark De La Torre, Director of Visualization at MIG debuted plans to renovate the depot and turn it into more of a social spot. Drawing inspiration from the Denver Union Station in Denver, Colorado, the plans include adapting the space for community social gatherings for holidays, restaurants, retail, and a museum component. Renovations would also include landscape upgrades and the installation of a splash pad.
Matheny also pointed out the section that was formerly designated for African Americans during segregation, saying that DGI has been in discussions with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce to turn that section of the depot into a Black entrepreneurial hub.
“The State of Downtown is strong, and getting stronger,” said Matheny. “With 31 businesses opening their doors in 2023 supported by 1.8 million visitors downtown, it’s no surprise that the annual economic impact of revenues generated downtown tops $90 million in public benefit.”
In 2023, 15 new restaurants and bars opened downtown, in addition to 16 new service and retail businesses. Of the 31 new businesses opening their doors, 63 percent are minority and women-owned business enterprises.
“Greensboro needs to be bold. Let’s be a leader,” said Matheny.
He also shared details on several announced projects underway including The Marilyn & Dean Green Rehearsal Hall for the Greensboro Symphony. The hall will be located on the corner of Elm Street and Friendly Avenue. Redevelopment will also take place with the 1889 Depot on S. Elm Street, and the newly constructed AC Hotel, a 12-story hotel, will be located on N. Eugene Street.
DGI is also hosting a series of quarterly public meetings called, “Downtown Dialogue” to discuss the growth of downtown. The next community meeting for downtown Greensboro will be held May 16 at Melrose Coffee Lounge on Church Street.
More information can be found on the DGI website at www.downtowngreensboro.org.
