James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center, UNC Charlotte

The James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center is a social and recreational center on campus, built in 1996 to be the “living room” of campus. The 232,000-square-foot center contains the 9,000-seat Halton Arena, the campus fitness center, an indoor track, recreational courts, a 50-foot indoor climbing wall, a group fitness studio, and meeting facilities. The center initially had a food court as well, along with a game room equipped with arcade games, ping pong tables, and pool tables.

The center is dedicated to Charlotte business and community leader James H. Barnhardt of Barnhardt Manufacturing Company. Barnhardt served on the university's board of advisors. The center was named in his honor as Barnhardt’s brother-in-law, Robert Hayes, along with wife Mariam Cannon Hayes and the Cannon Foundation, donated $5 million to the building’s construction, the largest gift in the university’s history at the time.

The Halton Arena, which is located within the James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center, hosts UNC Charlotte men's and women's basketball games and women's volleyball games, as well as commencement ceremonies, live concerts, student productions, and community festivals. The arena opened on December 2, 1996, and was named for Dale Halton, the president and CEO of the Charlotte Pepsi-Cola bottling company who donated $1.25 million for the arena’s construction. At the time of the Halton Arena’s construction, the largest auditorium on campus seated 620; the arena’s 9,000-seat capacity allowed the university to host commencement ceremonies on campus.

In addition to being a recreational space on campus, the James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center also hosts various campus events, like the International Festival. Established in 1975, the International Festival features booths representing over 50 nations and has had over 20,000 attendees in previous years. UNC Charlotte international students and community staff the booths, which showcase art, crafts, clothing, and food from each participating country. Live musical and dance performances are held in the Halton Arena and outside the center.

“Barnhardt Student Activity Center Named for Education Proponent”, Inside UNC Charlotte. July 9th 2013. Accessed August 31st 2021. https://inside.charlotte.edu/news-features/2013-07-09/barnhardt-student-activity-center-named-education-proponent.

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Wassum, Keith. 1997. UNC Show--Interviews (Beta) Keith Wassum--Barnhardt Student Activities Center (#1). J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. https://goldmine.uncc.edu/index/render/object/pid/ua:1418/parentPID/ua:publrel.

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Welcome to the Student Activity Center, James H Barnhardt Student Activity Center. Accessed August 31st 2021. https://sac.uncc.edu/.

Welcome to UNC Charlotte’s Annual International Festival, International Festival | UNC Charlotte. Accessed August 31st 2021. https://ifest.charlotte.edu/.