Google Fiber to open offices near newly-opened First Ward Park
Tuesday was a big day for First Ward.
First, officials opened First Ward Park with food, drinks, music and a lighting ceremony on a beautiful December day.
[Related: A look a First Ward Park and all the development planned around it.]
Then Google Fiber officially announced that it will be opening offices in a historic warehouse — the Philip Carey Building — on Seventh Street, right beside the brand-new park. (You may know this historic warehouse as “the place Dixie’s Tavern used to be.”)
These offices aren’t just for the Google-ites (is that what they call themselves?) who work in Charlotte. They’re for the community, too.
Included in the plans:
– A community space open for computer training and movie screenings.
– A place for local nonprofits to gather.
– An open pedestrian walkway, letting people walk through the building from the light rail line to the park.
Construction will continue through early 2016, and the building will open to the public when sign-ups for Google Fiber starts (whenever that happens … at least construction started a little while back).
Until then, you can look at this Fiber Space in Austin and just imagine what we’ll get in Charlotte.
In other headlines …
– Have you wondered why the top of the Bank of America tower is green? It’s because of a program called Greenlight a Vet, which supports military veterans.
– County commissioners had a message for the City Council regarding plans for a mixed-use neighborhood on the Eastland Mall site — Think bigger.
– Check out the renderings of a 20-story uptown hotel that would sit on top of a renovated Carolina Theatre.
– Luke Kuechly surprised a girl with cerebral palsy and autism by being her date for her 21st birthday party. All of the feels.
– Here’s what the house in “Home Alone” would cost today.
Photos: Ely Portillo; David T. Foster III
This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Google Fiber to open offices near newly-opened First Ward Park."