Temporary installments test what will come to 140 West Franklin Street in the future

Temporary outdoor installments were assembled and swapped out near Old Chicago as part of the 140 West Activation Experiment, conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.

From additional greenery and various types of seating to free WiFi and colorful flags hanging from the arcade, the two-day experiment was designed to test ways to better use the area, said Rae Buckley, assistant to the town manager for organizational and strategic initiatives.

“What I noticed with even sort of prime seating and umbrella chairs that offer shade, the space is really challenging because it’s not a destination and there’s not a reason to go there,” she said.

Buckley said they tried to bring seating options to the area so people would hang out there, but they found that even with plenty of seating options, there wasn’t necessarily a reason to stop.

The installation began as a project by recent UNC graduate student Mia Candy for a planning program class. Candy completed a public space study on how to quantify behavior in a public space, and her report was passed on to Buckley, who then hired Candy as a consultant.

“It’s obvious that there is a need for some kind of intervention,” Candy said. “The behavioral data shows that the community supports it, the residents support it-- the town wants to do something. But what that looks like, we haven’t yet decided.”

Candy’s project was modeled after an approach known as Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper that provides a fast, low-cost solution to transform a space.

“We decided that what we essentially wanted to do was test out some of our ideas and see what happens,” Candy said. “The whole idea is that you see what works, you see what doesn’t work and you can make smart decisions about your long-term investment in the space.”

Buckley said the project helped show why the space is underused.

“The methodology of this approach is a little bit more about observing how people behave, and what I observed is that even with really prominent seating, this is not a space that draws people in and makes them want to hang out,” Buckley said. “The next question is what brings people to this space and how do you accommodate them.”

Despite mixed public opinion, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said residents seemed to enjoy having more seating space and greenery in the square.

“Some people liked certain aspects and others thought it wasn’t enough, and we already knew it wasn’t going to be enough because it was still a pilot project,” Hemminger said.

Candy said it is still too soon to say whether the event was a success, as the data has yet to be analyzed, but she said adding more greenery and color in the space are priorities.

The next steps involve meetings with staff and the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership to assess making more permanent changes, Hemminger said.

“People need a reason to linger there,” she said. “That’s what we’re looking for in making it a public space where people want to go to gather, not pass through, which has been the hard part all along.”

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