STATE COLLEGE — A new permanent public exhibit is now on display at the State College Municipal Building. The exhibit features a 47-foot photographic scene of College Avenue extending from University Drive to Atherton Street.
The project was a partnership between the Center County Historical Society and the State College Borough and was inspired by a streetscape created by two Penn State students in 1972. The new photo streetscape is on display directly above the 1972 black and white photo, showcasing the changes along College Avenue over the last half-century.
“We are thrilled to have produced this visual historical documentation of how State College along College Avenue has developed over the last 53 years,” Roger L. Williams, president of the Centre County Historical Society and project director, said. “We hope the new exhibit will stand the test of time as a vivid frozen moment in the life of our fast-growing small city.”
Chuck Fong, a local photographer from State College, was commissioned for the project in which he took hundreds of photos of College Avenue between 2023 and 2024. According to a press release from the Centre County Historical Society, Fong pieced together the photographs in a panorama that reached 47 feet long. The exhibit was installed in February.
“Fong’s digital file was printed onto treated canvas, framed, and mounted by John McQueary and Kevin Reilly of The State College Framing Company & Gallery,” The historical society explained. “The long panorama is divided into three panels covering the walls outside Borough Council Chambers on the building’s third floor.”
At 47 feet long, the new full-color streetscape is longer than its predecessor from 1972. The 2024 streetscape covers the entirety of College Avenue in a mile-long stretch from the Meridian apartment complex on University to the Metropolitan apartment complex on Atherton. The 1972 version shows about two-tenths of a mile along College Avenue from McAllister Street to Fraser Street.
