When Nick Alliston was a freshman at UGA, College Avenue ran all the way from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway to Broad Street in downtown Athens. A year later, the street began to transform to a seating area to provide places for guests to eat outside during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Six years later, Alliston, now a founder of Sunroof Coffee, works everyday in the same area that was once drivable. Only now, it’s called College Square - a renovated block complete with unique lighting, metal tables and chairs, trees and planters alongside the border, and giant shade sails that hang over the area.
“I’ve gotten to come and sit out once or twice in the nice weather,” Alliston said. “It’s fun on gameday weekends. This has always been the area that people come to near The Arch, Chick-Fil-A downtown. It’s cool to be on that street.”
Sunroof Coffee is one of several businesses that saw the space go from a makeshift seating area to a construction zone to a pleasant place.
Saturday, the Athens Downtown Development Authority and Athens-Clarke County Government will officially open the space with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. as part of the grand opening. There will be family-friendly activities throughout the day, capped by a performance from 1990s tribute band BTBTE at 7 p.m.
The celebration is a culmination of the College Square Redesign project which officially began construction in February of this year.
Many of the businesses on College Avenue felt the impact of the construction, which took over the street.
Ansley Guntermann, who has been a server at The Grill for six years, said that business slowed down with all the rubble of the construction and signage.
“We saw a lull,” Guntermann said. “People weren’t sure if the businesses were open. A lot of times, they had signs at the beginning of the sidewalk that said the sidewalk was closed. It was just a small portion, but people didn’t know that they could come down this way.”
Alliston and Sunroof opened their downtown store in March, a month after construction started. This was Sunroof’s second location.
Because they were new to downtown, Alliston didn’t feel like there was as much of a negative effect.
“We probably benefited from never having been open prior to the construction because we knew exactly what it was supposed to look like, or what it could have been like for us,” Alliston said. “We still did well enough. We had enough brand excitement just from opening that it didn’t feel that bad to us, but now in hindsight it probably affected us more negatively than I realized.”
Now though, with the fences from the construction gone, a beautiful new area for patrons to enjoy, and football season in full swing, the local businesses are thriving.
Dress Up Boutique worker Cara Worley said she loves it and it’s been beneficial to their store, particularly in the social media department.
“Watching the transformation from being able to drive on it to just walking on it has been amazing,” Worley said. “It’s pretty out there now. It’s nice to take pictures out there, especially for our business being able to take pictures and not just have beat up concrete and streets. It’s really nice. We’ve loved it.”
Saturday’s celebration is the first special event in the new College Square. Minor improvements will continue to be made through early 2027.
The Grill server Maddie Ward is excited to see and experience the celebration Saturday.
“It’ll be great to see people out and about,” Ward said. “It’s definitely, since it’s opened up, I’ve noticed more people walking through and more business just in the few months I’ve been here. It’s been a noticeable change since they’ve finished it. I think tomorrow is going to bring a lot more people in as well.”
