A new 47-foot-long photographic streetscape of contemporary College Avenue from University Drive to Atherton Street is now on permanent public exhibit in the State College Municipal Building.

A partnership project of the Centre County Historical Society and State College Borough, the new streetscape drew its inspiration from a black-and-white streetscape created by two Penn State students in 1972. The new full-color streetscape is mounted directly above its 1972 predecessor, juxtaposed to show the physical change along College Avenue in Downtown State College is one-half century later.

“We are thrilled to have produced this visual historical documentation of how State College along College Avenue has developed over the last 53 years,” said Roger L. Williams, president of the Centre County Historical Society and project director. “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.”

State College photographer Chuck Fong was commissioned for the project. He took hundreds of digital images along College Avenue as time and conditions permitted during 2023 and 2024. His photographic creation, painstakingly pieced together into a seamless panorama 47 feet long, was installed in late February 2025.

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 long panorama is divided into three panels covering the walls outside Borough Council Chambers on the building’s third floor.

The 2024 streetscape is longer than its predecessor, encompassing the entirety of College Avenue’s mile-long stretch east to west from the Meridian apartment complex at University Drive to the Metropolitan apartment complex at Atherton Street. By contrast, the 1972 exhibit covers about two-tenths of a mile, from McAllister Street to Fraser Street.