Irving Park

Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden

Known for its massive annual plantings and bronze sculptures, the 7.5 hectare garden is a popular and relaxing retreat. A wedding page adds style, a man-made recycling stream provides texture, movement and sound, and a Sensory Garden draws visitors into an interactive landscape experience. Various sculptures placed throughout the garden are of artistic and historical interest, and the Pavement Square at the entrance to the garden provides an opportunity to lend the garden its name. In 1976, as part of the state’s bicentennial celebration, Greensboro Beautiful began a project to turn a 7 1/2-acre floodplain owned by the City of Greensboro into a public garden. Much of the property was covered with road fill dirt and brush. By October of that year, it was cleared, graded, an irrigation system installed, many trees, shrubs and flower beds planted, paved walkways laid, and dedicated as a Bicentennial Garden. Over the next years, the garden was expanded and several specialties were developed. More paths and benches and sculptures were added. For many years, the centerpiece of the garden was a life-size bronze sculpture titled “The Student”, symbolizing a typical male student who would have attended the David Caldwell Log College on the adjacent property in the late and early 18th century. in the 19th century. Rev. Dr. David Caldwell (1725-182 ) was a Presbyterian minister, self-taught physician and early educator in colonial North Carolina. At that place he founded Log College in 1767, which educated many of the distinguished men of the present day. The Bicentennial Garden is part of the land that once hosted the academy, its campus, and his home.

 

 

In 1995, Greensboro Beautiful commissioned a conceptual master plan to guide future garden improvements. The Master Plan outlined a number of development phases including an expanded visitor car park and public toilets, a new main entrance, a wedding garden, a sensory garden and woodland catchment area, river restoration, stone walls and raised beds, additional sculpture, an improved junction on Hobbs Road and an entrance to the adjacent bog garden, colorful plantings on Holden Road to anchor attention to the garden, the potential Old Mill site and development at the adjacent David Caldwell Historic Park. Greensboro Beautiful celebrated the completion of these improvements in 1999. In 2000, Greensboro Beautiful acquired the estate for improvements to the David Caldwell Historical Park, historical research, additional archaeological research, and the construction of an interpretive center on the property. The David Caldwell Historical Park Interpretive Center was dedicated on April 20, 2007 and teaches visitors about the David and Rachel Caldwell Academy, David Caldwell’s contributions to our state and region. In 2006, Stanley and Doris Tanger made a significant financial commitment to the continued support of Greensboro’s public gardens, and the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Commission approved the renaming of the Bicentennial Garden to the Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden. In 2017, Greensboro built the Beautiful and Old Mill, which commemorates the mill that David Caldwell operated on the site in the 1780s. It has a separate water wheel that works with the circulating current. The plant was developed with private donations from Greensboro Beautiful. This garden features a raised boardwalk that winds through 7 acres of natural wetlands. Stone paths wind through the wooded hillside, and visitors can enjoy the sounds of water at Serenity Falls, while admiring the plants, birds and other wildlife that inhabit the area. Finally, the 11-acre Gateway Gardens is a magnificent gateway to the city of Greensboro, a playful and interactive garden and garden oasis that combines elements of history, movement, discovery and community.

 

 

Gateway Gardens is the largest project in the 50-year history of Greensboro Beautiful. The Garden is strategically located at one of the main entrances to the city – E. Gate City Blvd., 1/2 mile from Business I- 0 and I-85 (Exit 12 ). Phase I opened in 2011 and includes the Michel Family Kindergarten, Heritage Garden, Rain Garden, Gateway Plaza and Icon, and the Great Lawn. In 201 , Gateway Gardens received LEED Silver project certification from the United States Green Building Council. Greensboro Beautiful is currently raising funds to continue developing the gardens for future phases. Small and large donations are welcome, and there is also an opportunity to name. The Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden is a historic garden and visitor center in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was created in 1976 to recognize and honor the bicentennial (its bicentennial) of the United States. The garden has an artificial meandering stream, a wedding gazebo and various artistic and historical sculptures. Many different plants and shrubs adorn the landscape throughout, including annuals, perennials, flowering trees and canopy trees. Greensboro Beautiful is a non-profit organization that raises money for the garden, while the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department oversees the events offered. The gazebo in the garden is a popular place for weddings and other events. The gazebo in the middle of the Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden can accommodate up to 100 people. On August 17, 2010, approximately $8,000 worth of copper roofing was stolen from a gazebo and kiosk. Garden staff discovered the theft at 7:30 am the next morning.


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