University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) recently opened its new Center City campus, and to celebrate, Saturday, Sept. 17 is “Community Day.”

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, this newest University of North Carolina at Charlotte member will open its doors to welcome the neighboring community and University partners into the building to learn more about how it plans to enhance existing connections and create new ones. The community at-large, as well as the University of North Carolina at Charlotte faculty and staff members, family and friends, are invited to this free celebration.

The new building is a bit unusual in design, which reflects its College of Arts + Architecture’s long-held outstanding reputation. Located at 320 E. Ninth St. in Center City Charlotte, it will bring revitalization to an area of uptown overwhelmingly inhabited by parking lots.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte is responding to the needs of the Charlotte region with the opening of this Center City building, offering programming focused on arts and the creative economy, business and finance, urban and regional development, health and community engagement.

As Jerry Coughter, executive director said, “This building promises to inspire collaboration between the University and the community, so it is fitting to bring us all together to discover how we can join forces.”

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte Center City “Community Day” celebration will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The colleges of Arts + Architecture, Business, Computing and Informatics and Engineering, as well as the Auxiliary Services Office, Extended Academic Programs Office and Athletics Department, are all participating in this celebration. Parking will be available for a fee in nearby lots; visitors are encouraged to walk, bike or take public transit. University of North Carolina at Charlotte Center City is two blocks from Seventh Street Station (a parking deck flanked by colored glass as interactive public art).

Throughout the day, there will be a number of activities, ongoing demonstrations and performances. (See the schedule here.)

These will include professors from the College of Arts + Architecture’s Music Department performing with Charlotte Symphony musicians. Other faculty will perform with a flutist and flamenco guitarist, and Terranova Dance Theatre will give a preview of its performance that will be part of the North Carolina Dance Festival. Two University of North Carolina at Charlotte art professors will help children create print screen T-shirts, while an art teacher from First Ward Elementary School helps others make tie-dye shirts.

There will be a puppet show and literary readings geared toward children and families, as well as performances by the First Ward Elementary School step team and University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumnus and slam poet Boris “Bluz” Rogers. Film screenings and more cultural and technological presentations are part of the celebration, too, and throughout the day, University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers mascot, Norm the Niner, will be on hand.

With its location at Ninth and Brevard Streets, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Center City borders the light rail tracks on one side and the First Ward neighborhood on the other. Fourth Ward is a few blocks away, and the core of Uptown Charlotte is nearby. University and community leaders envision the building will be a catalyst for continued redevelopment in the First Ward. University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Center City campus is located at 320 E. Ninth St.