Last week, the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau opened its doors at a new welcome center downtown – complete with greetings from some of Chapel Hill’s most famous names.

The new 4,000-square-foot welcome center is located at 308 W. Franklin – across the street from the bureau’s old location, which it had occupied since 2002. 308 W. Franklin previously housed the restaurant Cholanad, which has moved next door.

“We’re very, very excited,” said communications director Patty Griffin during 97.9 The Hill’s “For ‘Em on the Hill” in December. “It’s been a long time coming…obviously when [COVID-19] hit, things slowed down in terms of the renovations, but it’s picked up in the last few months, and we’ll have a big party when we move and we’ll be welcoming everybody there.”

The central feature of the new welcome center is a 10-foot LED screen, displaying photos and videos of Orange County and recorded greetings from notables like UNC football coach Mack Brown, comedian Lewis Black, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper — and legendary musician James Taylor, who lived in the Morgan Creek neighborhood for many of his formative years.

Other luminaries who recorded greetings include Tar Heel basketball stars Phil Ford and Marcus Ginyard; novelist Sarah Dessen; Mayors Pam Hemminger, Damon Seils, and Jenn Weaver of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough; and Renee Price, the chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Welcome Center is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Beginning in July, the center will be open on Saturdays as well.

 

Photo via the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau.


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