Institution

Begun in 1966 on the newly-established Charlotte campus of the University of North Carolina system, the Botanical Gardens was the brainchild of biology professor Dr. Herbert Hechenbleikner and UNC Charlotte founder, Bonnie E. Cone. The Gardens were created to serve as a living classroom for biology students and as a horticultural and botanical resource for the campus and greater community. This was a unique beginning, as university botanical gardens usually spring from a formal horticulture or botany department. Despite the absence of those departments, the Gardens founders believed a university campus was not complete without the educational and cultural resource of a thoughtful, managed botanical garden. This vision became possible through the support of members of the Charlotte community, especially Mr. Ralph Van Landingham, and the hard work of Dr. Hechenbleikner and previous Director, Dr. Larry Mellichamp.Since its creation the Botanical Gardens has flourished and now contains a greater variety of plants and collections than any other Charlotte-area garden. Over the last 50+ years the Botanical Gardens have evolved into the special resource that exists today, comprising 10 acres of outdoor gardens, a 4500 sq ft glasshouse with attached workspace, and teaching classroom that also contains a 1200+ book botanical and horticultural library. The expansion of the Botanical Gardens has been matched by the vision and dedication of our staff. Several underutilized areas have been improved into special collections to showcase unique approaches to gardening. The most recent addition, the Mellichamp Terrace, is an example of combining a love of horticulture, botany, and home gardening.This concludes the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens City Walks tour. City Walks Charlotte would love to hear from you about your experience participating in this year's tours. To take a brief survey, click the link at the bottom of this page.

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The UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens is a stand alone garden founded in 1966 on the UNC Charlotte campus. This garden features three locations including a 4,500 square foot greenhouse, the Harwood Gardens and the Van Landingham Glen. Each of these locations is distinctive. The greenhouse features showy tropicals, the Harwood Garden is a formal designed Garden, and the Van Landingham Glen is a forested area filled with native trees and shrubs. A number of different collections are on display including bog plants, natives, orchids, unusual fruits, and many others.  

Use the source cited below (https://panorama.uncc.edu/GardenTourNew/gardenindex.html) to virtually tour the gardens and see some of our most interesting garden spots and collections.

UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens

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The University of North Carolina at Charlotte dates its founding to 1946, when the Charlotte Center opened its doors as a night school for returning World War II veterans. Three years later, the state declared the Center was no longer needed and decided to close it, which would have left the state’s largest city again with no public institution of higher education. In 1949, after intensive lobbying by founder Bonnie Cone and her allies, the state backed the establishment of Charlotte College. In 1961, the college moved to its present location, and in 1965 it became the fourth campus of the UNC system. This virtual tour can be enjoyed from any location, and includes navigation for those taking the tour in-person. The tour can be downloaded as a PDF and printed, or saved to a mobile device. 

Mr. Kennedy’s dream for the college was as a four-year, state-supported college. As early as 1952, he was soliciting community leaders for support. He argued that Charlotte was the most populated area in the state resulting in a larger percentage of taxes paid to the State Treasury. Most importantly, he asserted that without a state-supported college within 85 miles of Charlotte, half of the superior high school graduates did not go on to college because they could not afford to live away from home.In 1961, John Paul Lucas wrote, “... Charlotte College in a large measure owes its present state of advancement, if not its very existence, to the vision, the persistence, yes, the stubbornness of Woody Kennedy at a time when few shared his enthusiasm.” Mr. Kennedy served for eleven years on the advisory board for Charlotte College, was a member of the site selection committee, and passed away the night before he was to become a member of the first Board of Trustees. The other Board members carried forward his vision and recognized his dedication by proposing that the first building on the new campus be named for him. At the dedication ceremony on February 16, 1962, Mr. Kennedy was honored as a civic leader, engineer, and a friend of education. Original plans for the science and engineering building included ten classrooms, twelve offices, one lecture room, laboratories for chemistry, physics, biology, geology, and engineering courses, and a temporary library to be converted into more laboratories, classrooms, and offices at a later date. Currently, the Kennedy Building is home to The Center for Teaching and Learning and The Office of OneIT. Of note, the Kennedy Building was also the site of the university's greatest tragedy, when on April 30, 2019 a campus shooting claimed two lives and injured four others.

The Kennedy Building was one of the first two buildings on the UNC Charlotte campus. Both Kennedy and Macy were constructed in 1961, designed by Odell Associates, Inc. and built by F. N. Thompson, Inc. The 42,000 square foot research and instructional facility cost $897,000 and was named in honor of Woodford “Woody” A. Kennedy, a man who called his devotion to Charlotte College, UNC Charlotte’s predecessor, “something between a hobby and an obsession.”

Kennedy Building, UNC Charlotte

On August 13, 1971, the Board of Trustees of the Consolidated University named the building after Dr. Pierre Macy (1899-1990), professor emeritus of French. The Macy Building was dedicated on October 29, 1971 in a celebration known as Dedication Day, along with buildings Barnard, Winningham, Reece, and the Dalton Tower.Original plans for the academic building included ten classrooms, one foreign language lab, one lecture room, twelve offices, a temporary student lounge to be converted into two classrooms at a later date, and a temporary administrative space to be converted into ten offices at a later date. Dr. Macy was involved in the planning of his future namesake. He visited many language laboratories and requested that this one be designed in the same manner as one at Elon College. A language laboratory allowed for listening, speaking, monitoring, recording, and intercommunicating between student and teacher. In his twenty years of service, Dr. Macy was dedicated to the school. He established and maintained the foreign language program at Charlotte College (UNC Charlotte’s predecessor), contributed 100 French and Spanish textbooks and novels to the college’s first library, and continued to teach at the university well beyond his retirement age. He was the university’s first commencement marshal, advised the French club, and served on numerous committees. He was also well-regarded by the students, who dedicated the 1960 edition of the yearbook to him. Prior to coming to the United States, Dr. Macy, a native from France, served in the French Army in World War I and in the French Underground in World War II. He was captured by the Gestapo and escaped to the United States. He holds degrees from the universities of Nancy, Dijon, and Paris.

The Macy Building was one of the first two buildings on the UNC Charlotte campus. Both Macy and Kennedy were constructed in 1961, designed by Odell Associates, Inc. and built by F. N. Thompson, Inc. The 18,000 square foot research and instructional facility cost $418,000 and existed without a name for ten years, known simply as building “L.”

Macy Building, UNC Charlotte

A.G. Odell first conceived the idea for a tower at UNC Charlotte where Belk Plaza now stands in the mid 1960s. He planned the tower to be in a classic style with a bell to give height to campus since at the time most of the buildings were only two or three floors, but Bonnie Cone decided not to go with that tower. Odell was designing the campus for St. Andrews Presbyterian College at the time (now St. Andrews University), another college in North Carolina, and she thought the campuses looked too similar. However, the idea of having a tower on campus stuck. In 1967 Irwin “Ike” Belk and his three brothers provided money for a tower and dedicated it to their father, William Henry Belk. William Henry Belk founded the first Belk department store, originally named the "New York Racket," in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina; he opened a new location in Charlotte on September 25, 1895. Irwin Belk also gave generously to UNC Charlotte. He donated money for the track and field complex, the business school, and established several scholarships.Little Lee &amp; Associates designed the tower which was completed in 1970. Made by staking seven-foot round concrete drums onto each other, the tower stood 147 feet high with a diagonal slant at the top and held 183 electronic carillon bells. The tower stood on the top of a seven-foot brick platform with what looked like the base for another tower a few feet away, but was a maintenance hatch. The tower was often described as looking like a rocket on a launch pad, a fitting description considering that Odell meant the tower to represent UNC Charlotte’s “upward reaching toward excellence.”The tower's height and location made it a center of campus life. The College of Arts + Architecture faculty took full advantage of the tower's location, using it for outdoor showcases. In the 70s, the dance department utilized the base of the tower and the maintenance hatch for one of their performances. Students also used the tower to make their voices heard; in 2012, after the murder of Trayvon Martin, students held a protest at Belk Tower. An inspection of the tower found that it was structurally not sound, which would cost a million dollars to repair, so Chancellor Phil Dubois decided it was time for the structure to come down. The news angered many employees, students, and alumni for whom the tower had been a focal point for their time at the university.In December 2015, tower destruction began, and on April 11, 2016, Charlotte landscape architectural firm LandDesign revealed plans for the plaza to the public. Two years and ten months after the destruction of the tower in October 2018, the plaza was completed and open to the public. The finished Belk Plaza closely reflected the plans from LandDesign. A semi-circular courtyard sloped towards the Rowe Arts Building with a stone fountain on the opposite end. The designers switched from a tower to a plaza to create more space for students to build community. Since its creation, Belk Plaza has become a place for students and organizations to hold events, do homework, and just hang out.

The Belk Plaza at UNC Charlotte opened to the public in October 2018, featuring a fountain and a large open area providing students a place to hold events and hang out. But from 1970-2015 where the plaza now stands, Belk Tower was an iconic structure on campus where students gathered to hold events and make their voices heard.

 Belk Plaza, UNC Charlotte

Oliver Reagan Rowe (1902-1988), a Charlotte resident and graduate of Central High School and UNC-Chapel Hill, began his career at the Charlotte engineering firm of R.H. Bouligny, becoming a vice president of the company in 1931. During Charlotte College’s early years, Rowe became an ardent and eloquent supporter of the college, joining the Board of Trustees in 1957. Rowe had visions for the future of Charlotte College that outpaced early expectations for the school and regularly spoke of the “greater need” for higher education in the area whenever given the opportunity to do so. Rowe’s ability to persuade others to the cause of Charlotte College helped the school land its first million-dollar gift when he encouraged the Celanese Corporation to donate an industrial facility in Burlington to the Charlotte College Foundation in 1963. Rowe became president of R.H. Bouligny in 1966, over time reorganizing it into the Rowe Corporation, “a worldwide enterprise of fourteen companies with construction, industrial, and agricultural divisions making products ranging from farm equipment to synthetic fiber machinery.”   Rowe and his wife Maria were both active in the Charlotte arts community, supporting the opera and symphony, as well as the many civic, service and cultural organizations tied to it. Rowe was elected president of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Society in 1964, and in 1973 he “established, nurtured, and financially sponsored the nationally and internationally famous ‘Rowe String Quartet’” at UNC Charlotte. The building is also notable for its architect, Murray Whisnant (1932- ). Whisnant was also a Charlotte resident and graduate of Central High School. He studied architecture at the North Carolina State University School of Design under Dean Henry L. Kamphoefner, faculty member Eduardo Fernando Catalano, and Visiting Architect Buckminster Fuller - all of whom were proponents of Modernism. Whisnant returned to Charlotte after graduation and worked for several firms before partnering with Charles Wheatley in 1960. Whisnant focused primarily on private residences - one of which was Bonnie Cone’s home in the College Downs neighborhood adjacent to campus, completed in 1968. However, the firm did not limit itself to residential architecture, as evidenced by the Rowe Arts Building,. Whisnant recalled working on its design to be a pleasant experience, describing the building as “a square doughnut” which featured an open courtyard and “a decorative fountain” as its primary focus. One of his most recognized buildings - the 1968 Van Hecke-Wettach Building at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law - is another example of his work in the public sector. Whisnant was recognized by North Carolina State University in 1990 for demonstrating “a consistent integrity and devotion...to further the modern movement in architecture” by becoming the second recipient of the prestigious Kamphoefner Prize.

The Rowe Arts Building was the first home for UNC Charlotte’s departments of performing and visual arts. In addition to offices and classrooms, the building features a 350-seat theater, a recital hall, a scene shop, practice rooms, darkrooms for photography, a ceramics shop, and a large lobby that doubled as a gallery. Designed by Charlotte architect Murray Whisnant, the building was completed in 1972 and named for Oliver Reagan Rowe, who is remembered as “a major visionary in the development of UNC Charlotte.”

Rowe Arts Building, UNC Charlotte

Prior to the creation of Storrs Hall, UNC Charlotte’s School of Architecture shared space in the Atkins Library building. In 1980, Dean of the College of Architecture Charles C. Hight noted seven reasons why the need for a new building was urgent, including not enough capacity for students and criticism of the existing architecture spaces from the National Architectural Accrediting Board.The 87,000 square foot Storrs Hall makes use of natural light through skylights and windows and offers many unique features. As described at the building’s naming ceremony:<blockquote>"The combined steel-framed, circular columns and masonry bearing walls structure offers an ideal showcase of a broad palette of materials. The school is a veritable textbook of building materials and systems. The 8x8 inch brick and stucco exterior, end-grained wood floor, ground-faced concrete block wall interiors vividly illustrate how inexpensive, durable materials can become a building’s ornamentation."</blockquote>Storrs Hall, originally called the College of Architecture building, was named after Thomas I. Storrs in 1992. Storrs served on the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees for 11 years, and as chair during his final four years on the Board. He was best known for his role as president, then CEO of North Carolina National Bank, which later became Bank of America.The Charles C. Hight Architecture Library is located on the second floor inside of Storrs Hall. The Hight Library is the only branch library at UNC Charlotte. James H. Werntz, vice chancellor for Academic Affairs stated in 1990 that on principle, a campus like UNC Charlotte should have one library, but the College of Architecture should be an exception to the rule and have their own library to meet the specific needs of their students and faculty. In 1993 the College of Architecture and Atkins Library worked together to establish the Architectural Resource Center. In 2001, the name of the space changed to the Charles C. Hight Architecture Resource Center in honor of the dean of the College of Architecture, who was instrumental in the growth of the architecture program at the university. In 2007 the Resource Center became the Charles C. Hight Architecture Library.

Storrs Hall is the home of UNC Charlotte’s College of Arts + Architecture, which includes programs in architecture, art and art history, dance, music, and theatre. Designed by the College of Architecture; Charlotte architectural firm Ferebee, Walters and Associates; and New York architects Charles Gwaltmey and Robert Siegel, Storrs Hall was intended to be “an instrument for architectural education.” It was completed in 1990.

Storrs Hall, UNC Charlotte

The Cyrillic Projector by Jim Sanborn was created in the early 1990s and purchased by UNC Charlotte in 1997 after a nationwide search for a new piece of artwork to bring to campus. It is eight-feet tall and sits between the Friday and Fretwell Buildings. The bronze sculpture features two encoded messages and can be illuminated from within. This artwork is one of a trio of similar sculptures created by Sanborn. Antipodes is located outside of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC and Kryptos is located on the grounds of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Like the Cyrillic Projector, these two sculptures feature encoded messages using the Cyrillic and, in the case of Antipodes, Latin alphabets. Of Kryptos’  four encoded messages, three have been solved. The fourth remains one of the most famous unsolved codes in the world. In 2003 a group of codebreakers called the Kryptos Group solved the code of the Cyrillic Projector. The sculpture contains two excerpts from formerly classified Russian KGB memos. The first is about the importance of secret agents maintaining psychological control over their sources. The second is from KGB correspondence about Andrei Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize winning scientist and Soviet dissident. The text details how the KGB was concerned that his report to the 1982 Pugwash conference would be used by the United States as anti-Soviet propaganda. Though there is disagreement about what these messages were intended to convey, a plaque near the sculpture states that the code refers to the “dangers of suppressing intellectual and artistic freedom.” The university also purchased a second piece by Sanborn, Adam’s Spinning Top. It is located next to the Friday Building, across from the Cyrillic Projector.

Cyrillic Projector is a sculpture located between the Friday and Fretwell Buildings on the campus of UNC Charlotte. It was created by American artist Jim Sanborn, and was purchased by the university in 1997. The bronze artwork is eight-feet tall and features two encoded messages. The codes remained a mystery until they were solved by a group of cryptographers in 2003.

Cyrillic Projector, Jim Sanborn, UNC Charlotte

The Bonnie E.Cone University Center served as the central hub for students on campus until construction for the new student union broke ground in 2007. Designed by FWA Group, the building is 196,000 square feet with 3 levels. It contains a 400- seat retail area, a 20,000 square foot bookstore, 210- square foot movie theater, convenience store, student lounges, offices for student organizations and conference rooms. The new student union remained nameless until 2016 when it was named to honor distinguished alumni and benefactors Karen A. Popp and Demond T. Martin. The dedication ceremony was held on April 18, 2016.Karen A. Popp is a 1980 graduate of UNC Charlotte, where she was the first woman elected as student body president in the UNC system.. Upon graduation she pursued a career in law, eventually serving as a White House counsel to President Bill Clinton. She has also served on the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees, including as chair. Demond T. Martin is a 1997 graduate of UNC Charlotte. He was a first-generation college student and a participant in the University Transition Opportunities Program. As a sophomore, he was the youngest student to ever serve as student body president. He later served as a White House assistant for Erskine Bowles and graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School. He formerly served as a UNC Charlotte Foundation board member and currently serves as a board member for the Obama Foundation.

The Karen A. Popp and Demond T. Martin Student Union was built on the campus of UNC Charlotte in 2009. In 2016 it was dedicated to notable university alumni, Karen Popp (Class of 1980) and Demond Martin (Class of 1997). In addition to being a gathering place for students, it houses a dining hall, passport services, a salon, a movie theater, an art gallery and the offices of the student government association, student organizations, and university units focused on the student experience.

Popp Martin Student Union, UNC Charlotte

The 49er Miner was originally installed in 1992 on the Broadrick Boulevard median near the Reese Building close to the main entrance to campus. It was relocated in 2016 at the request of the Student Government Association, who sought a better location for students to take photographs with the 49er. When it was installed at its new location, a water feature was added that directs a small amount of water to spill into the miner’s pan. The relocation of the sculpture coincided with the institution of a class ring program, leading to one of the university’s traditions: When they receive their ring, students dip it into the pan and allow the water to flow over it as a gesture of bonding with the university. Another tradition is to put a penny in the pan.The 49ers nickname, adopted in 1961 by student vote, references the importance of the year 1949 in the history of the university. In that pivotal year, Bonnie Cone and others convinced the state legislature of the continuing need for a state-supported college in Charlotte. As expressed in The Gold Digger student handbook for 1965-66: “The use of the forty-niner mascot symbolizes the spirit of striving for a goal and concentrating all energies to the achievement of that goal.” Students often refer to the 49er Miner statue as “Norm,” the name given to the mascot later.The idea for the sculpture was first proposed by alumnus Cameron “Cammie” Harris, who was familiar with Ghiglieri and helped to raise the $55,000 needed for the commission. In addition to Cameron and his wife Dee Dee, other donors included Dale and Philip Halton, Eugene and Vickie Johnson, Felix and Carolyn Sabates and the Class of 1985.

This bronze sculpture depicts the mascot of UNC Charlotte, the 49er Miner. Completed in 1991 by Oregon sculptor Lorenzo Ghiglieri, the piece was commissioned by the university to create a focal point for the campus. It is located at the foot of the staircase that leads from the plaza between Atkins Library and the Barnhardt Student Activities Center down to the plaza between the College of Education and the College of Health and Human Services.

Niner Miner Sculpture, UNC Charlotte

For twenty-five years UNC Charlotte’s School of Nursing was housed on the first floor of the Colvard Building. As the university grew and expanded its health and human services offerings to include departments in kinesiology, social work and health administration, it became clear that more expansive classroom, laboratory, and office spaces were needed as well. In 2002, several local architecture firms made their proposals for the new health and human services building. Pease Associates won the contract in large part because they were the only firm whose architects met with the dean and faculty to solicit their input on the design and use of the building. A location for the new CHHS building was selected as part of the campus master plan to move the center of campus from Belk Plaza nearer to the site of the then-unbuilt Student Union. Construction was completed in 2006.Upon opening, the 138,000 square foot facility boasted 34 classrooms, six laboratories, conference rooms, office space, and special features like a home health care practice apartment and examination rooms with hospital beds and fixtures, examination tables, and state-of-the-art computerized mannequins that can simulate a variety of health conditions. The grounds surrounding the building feature a collection of medicinal plants, shrubs, and trees.The CHHS building is topped by a brick and copper cupola. This unique design component was not initially favored by Chancellor Woodward, but the architects persuaded him to move forward with it in the final design. It wasn’t long after the building was completed that the cupola became an iconic image of UNC Charlotte’s expanding campus.The College of Health and Human Services is currently comprised of the Department of Public Health Services, the Department of Kinesiology, the School of Social Work, the School of Nursing, the Gerontology Program, and its newest addition, the School of Data Science, an interdisciplinary partnership between the College of Computing and Informatics, the Belk College of Business, the College of Health and Human Services, and the College of Liberal Arts &amp; Sciences.

The CHHS Building is the home of UNC Charlotte’s College of Health and Human Services, which includes the Department of Public Health Services, the Department of Kinesiology, the School of Social Work, the School of Nursing, the Gerontology Program, and its newest addition, the School of Data Science. It was designed by Pease Associates and built by Turner Construction, and is one of the last buildings on campus that was authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly's 2000 Higher Education Bond Bill. It was completed in 2006 and was dedicated in April 2007.

College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) Building, UNC Charlotte

Atkins Library, completed in 1963, was one of about eight buildings included in the original master plan for the new Charlotte College campus site, which had opened two years earlier. In 1965, two years after the death of James Murrey Atkins, the university officially named the library to honor the prominent businessman. He was a central figure in Charlotte’s civic life who was instrumental in the founding of Charlotte College, which became the fourth campus in the University of North Carolina system in 1965. As the first chair of the college’s board of trustees, Atkins worked alongside Bonnie Cone to gain community and government support for the institution. Within a few years Atkins Library required a major expansion. In 1971, the building added a ten-story tower named for Harry Lee Dalton, a Charlotte business leader who was one of the university’s most devoted patrons. Along with his wife, Mary, he expanded the library’s collections with gifts of books from his personal collection as well as money. These donations stimulated the development of Special Collections, and in 1983 the Mary and Harry L. Dalton Rare Book and Manuscript Reading Room opened on the tenth floor. To mark the occasion, the Daltons donated a copy of Phillis Wheatley's Poems, published in 1773. By the mid-1990s, the library was again bursting at the seams, unable to accommodate its collection of 600,000 volumes and a student enrollment of more than 15,000. With a major allocation from the state legislature, the library added 110,000 square feet. The renovation included wiring for electronic information access, coinciding with the completion of the conversion of the card catalog to an online system, as well as 1,200 computer workstations. A three-story atrium was also added. In 2000, the reading room on the first floor was renovated and renamed in honor of businesswoman and university benefactor Dale F. Halton. The Halton Room is used for events as well as student study.In 2005, the Dalton Tower was recladded in brick, replacing an earlier unsuccessful recladding. That same year, a cafe was added on the ground level, but it was not until 2012 that the library opened a new north entrance on that floor. Soon thereafter a major renovation of the entire ground level was unveiled, adding 5,000 square feet for technology-enhanced rooms and moveable furniture to facilitate new collaborative modes of studying. In 2018, a new suite of technology spaces and services was added on the second floor. Known as Area 49, it comprises a makerspace, EZ video studio, visualization lab, teaching lab, multimedia lab, gaming lab, photogrammetry lab, and technology support desk. In 2019, NinerCommons, a set of services for the hosting and preservation of campus scholarship, was launched. The library opened a new storage facility in 2021 and relocated most of the periodicals collection and 70 percent of the print collection to it, enhancing services as needed to ensure timely delivery of requested materials. The objective was to gain space for additional seating to help accommodate the rising demand brought on by increasing enrollment, which exceeded 30,000 in Fall 2020.As the library’s collection has grown over the years, generous benefactors have donated to the rare book collection to celebrate the milestone. In 1969, the library's 100,000th volume was donated by Mrs. Mary Myers Dwelle, a copy of The Historie of the World: in Five Bookes by Sir Walter Raleigh, printed in 1628. The library acquired its 500,000th volume in 1991 when the Daltons donated a rare first American edition of Moby Dick by Herman Melville. In 2007, the library added its one-millionth volume: a 1922 first edition, first pressing, copy of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, donated by Professor of English Julian Mason and his wife Elsie. The Masons also donated the two millionth volume in 2016, a rare sixth edition of Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, published in 1793.

At the heart of the UNC Charlotte campus, J. Murrey Atkins Library is one of the largest research libraries in the state with a permanent staff of about 90. It offers over 3.8 million volumes, including 1.2 million e-books and 222,000 (mainly electronic) journals. The building comprises 285,000 square feet. Services include research and publishing support, library instruction, technology to enhance learning and scholarship, and the preservation of local and campus history. The library welcomes 1.5 million visits per year.Atkins Library, its collections, and many events are open to the public. The first floor atrium features exhibits as well as busts of the university’s founder, Bonnie Cone, and each of the chancellors who have completed their service. On the tenth floor, extensive archives document the history of the university and the Charlotte region, and visitors can also enjoy a panoramic view that includes Uptown Charlotte to the southwest and Charlotte Motor Speedway to the northeast.

J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte

Hechenbleikner was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard University. While the director of science for Charlotte City Schools, he joined the faculty of the Charlotte Center for the University of North Carolina in 1946 as a part-time instructor for geology, geography, zoology, and botany. In 1962, when Charlotte College moved from Central High School to its permanent campus, Hechenbleikner followed as a full-time professor of biology.  Hechenbleikner made major contributions to the original landscaping of the campus. With little to no funds available for beautification projects, he sourced trees and flowers from local garden club donations, seeded grass around new buildings, and planted trees at the entrance to campus.Working with college students and trainees from a local heavy equipment operator school that also provided earth moving equipment, Hechenbleikner supervised the building of an earthen dam formed by campus’s new entry road, which filled in a ravine allowing the lake’s creation. Over the years, the lake served as a home for swans and ducks while also serving as a venue for campus events such as the College of Architecture’s annual boat races. In early 2010, the overflow pipe for the lake caved in. As a result, draining water began to erode the earthen dam, threatening its collapse and that of Broadrick Boulevard. In response, the university’s Facilities Management Department, working with state and federal agencies, developed a plan to drain the lake and repair the dam - a project that took two years to complete. Campus Landscape Architect Peter Franz also saw an opportunity during the project to make the lake more pedestrian-friendly through the addition of a brick sidewalk running from Robinson Hall past the Colvard Building, and ending at Broadrick Boulevard near the main entrance roundabout. Benches were added around this perimeter with an overlook platform between Robinson Hall and the Rowe Arts Building. Completed in 2012, the lake was refilled naturally by rainwater. In 2015, a work of public art was unveiled at the lake’s overlook. Designed by artist John Medwedeff, Aperture is a steel sculpture mounted on a bearing, which can be rotated to present different views of the lake and surrounding campus buildings. It was donated by longtime benefactor Ike Belk, who commissioned the project. Additionally, the natural area on the far side of Hechenbleikner Lake was designated a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation in 2017 - in recognition of the University’s efforts to create and maintain spaces on campus that are hospitable to wildlife.

This scenic lake was named for Professor of Biology Herbert Hechenbleikner in 1975. “Dr. Heck,” as he was affectionately known, created the lake from his own imagination and constructed it with the help of students and volunteers in 1964. The lake is but one of several projects initiated by Hechenbleikner, who guided the early landscape planning for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Hechenbleikner Lake, UNC Charlotte

Originally known as “Dorm ‘73” for the year it opened, Holshouser Hall cost $2,102,000 to build and was officially renamed for North Carolina’s 68th governor by the Board of Trustees in 1975. The high-rise dormitories were designed by architect Leslie Boney of Wilmington. Holshouser Hall was identical to the previous three high-rise buildings in terms of appearance. That is to say, they were “rather spartan, poured in place concrete buildings.” Boney argued that the “raw” look of concrete would render the buildings attractive. However, student and public perception never came around to Boney’s way of thinking, and consistently likened the building design to architecture more at home in the Soviet Union than in Charlotte. However, lost on many is the fact that the simple design of the high-rise dormitories lowered their overall construction costs, while also providing the funding necessary to equip them with air conditioning - a first for state-supported institutions in North Carolina.  The appearance of the high-rise towers was improved slightly after they were painted cream, which offset the depressing drab gray look they wore after rainstorms, but no major change occurred to the buildings until 2004, when the interior of Holshouser was renovated over an eight-week span to provide “a more homelike feel for students.”A second more extensive renovation in 2015 in conjunction with the South Village development “added outdoor patio space, a game room, community activity space, floor lounges, community kitchens and a central laundry facility.” But the most significant (and readily visible) improvement was to the exterior, where brick cladding was added, producing a more traditional collegiate look while also tying the building into the campus design motif of Morrocroft red brick.   Nearby Scott Hall also underwent renovation, opening in 2018 as the new freshman dormitory. Moore Hall was demolished in 2019 to make way for new construction on the site. Sanford Hall’s future is not yet decided - so stay tuned.

Holshouser Hall represents the first phase of UNC Charlotte’s residential building program. The last of four 11-story high rise facilities constructed between 1969-1973, Holshhouser Hall was designed to accommodate 500 students in two hundred and fifty student rooms. Holshouser, like the preceding high-rise dormitories before it, also featured air conditioning--distinguishing them as the first residence halls constructed with state funds to offer the amenity.

Holshouser Hall, UNC Charlotte

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.

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.

James H. Barnhardt Student Activity Center, UNC Charlotte

The Jerry Richardson Stadium is a product of a decades long campaign to bring football to UNC Charlotte. When UNC Charlotte opened as the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina in 1946, football was the first sports team for the new university. The team was known as the Owls and completed several seasons before the football program ended in 1948. In 2006, a dedicated group of UNC Charlotte students formed the Charlotte 49er Football Initiative (CFI). The grassroots group campaigned to encourage the creation of a 49er football team.The desire for a football team came to fruition in December 2006, when the Board of Trustees authorized Chancellor Phil Dubois to study the feasibility of bringing football to UNC Charlotte. The Football Feasibility Committee approved the addition of football to UNC Charlotte. In September 2008, Chancellor Dubois recommended the completion of a football team and school field by 2013. But, the recommendation came with the condition that fans raise $5 million in six months to help build the $45.3 million stadium complex.Dubois proposed the sale of 5,000 Forty-Niner seat licenses for $1,000 each. Despite the 2008 recession,125 people said they would buy a total of 331 licenses after Dubois’ announcement. Athletics director Judy Rose and her department raised the rest of the $40 million for the stadium. By November 2008, 49ers had received commitments for 4,167 seat licenses at $1,000 each. On April 28, 2011, over 3,000 fans gathered to celebrate UNC Charlotte breaking ground for the new 49er stadium. Rodgers PCL Russell was the construction team for the project, and Jenkins Peer and DLR Group designed the stadium.The football stadium complex—situated on 25 acres of land—is composed of the Jerry Richardson Stadium, a field house, and two practice fields.The facility contains 15,314 seats that can be expanded to 40,000 seats. The stadium also hosts a press box with media seating, a university box, and television and radio booths on the west sideline on the concourse level. The Jerry Richardson Stadium is a zero-waste facility with all waste produced in the stadium recycled or composted. On June 11, 2013, the new 49er stadium was named Jerry Richardson Stadium in honor of former founder and owner of the Carolina Panthers, Jerry Richardson, for his contributions to the football stadium. Brad Lambert served as the first head coach of the 49er football team. The stadium opened on August 31, 2013, with an inaugural game between the Charlotte 49ers and Campbell University’s Campbell Fighting Camels.

UNC Charlotte broke ground on the Jerry Richardson Stadium and McColl-Richardson Field in 2011. The football field complex spans 25 acres of land and was completed in 2013. The stadium officially opened with an inaugural game against Campbell University’s Campbell Fighting Camels on August 31, 2013. The stadium is located near the campus entrance at Highway 29 on North Tryon Street.

Jerry Richardson Stadium, UNC Charlotte

The opening of UNC Charlotte Main was the culmination of over three decades of work by Charlotte officials and the university to better connect the campus to the center city. UNC Charlotte’s location almost ten miles north of Uptown was originally chosen based on the availability of sufficient land to allow for institutional expansion and proximity to future major thoroughfares. However, as the university’s fourth chancellor, Chancellor Philip L. Dubois lamented, the distance between the main campus and Uptown was seen as “the most difficult 10 miles in Charlotte,” and had discouraged opportunities for town and gown interconnectedness. Chancellor Dubois recalled that soon after he became chancellor in the summer of 2005 Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory strongly urged him to support the idea of extending the Lynx Blue Line north to the university campus. At that time, the construction of the southern leg of the Lynx Blue line connecting center city to I-485 on the outskirts of Pineville was just getting underway and the university had purchased a parcel of land at East 9th Street and North Brevard for the future site of UNC Charlotte’s Center City Campus – now the Dubois Center.Mayor McCrory recalled that Dubois’ response to his request was: “bring it on”. Previous concerns had been that bringing the rail line onto campus would disrupt the quiet pedestrian nature of the University, and that it would be preferable to build the rail line adjacent to, but not on to the campus. Charlotte Area Transport, however, felt strongly that it was important to build a station on campus to assure sufficient ridership for cost effectiveness. By 2006 a route was chosen that suited both parties, bringing the railway along North Tryon Street well to the north side of campus to avoid disruption to campus walkability, yet still siting the Main Station within a short distance of the future Student Union (opened in 2009), and close to student residence halls. The next several years were spent building public and campus support for the project while lining up the budget to fund it. Ultimately the BLE cost a total of $1.16 million. Fifty percent of funding for the BLE was provided by the Federal Transit Administration, twenty-five percent came from the state of North Carolina, UNC Charlotte donated $6 million in land and improvements, and a Mecklenburg County half-cent sales tax covered the rest of the cost. The architecture and engineering firm STV was the principal designer for the project, which added 11 new stations, improved sidewalks, and green landscaping to the Blue Line. Four of the stations were designed to provide extensive park-and-ride facilities. Ground was broken for construction of the new line on July 18, 2013. CATS divided construction work for the project between numerous contractors, including Balfour Beatty US and the Lane Construction Corporation. Although the project met significant challenges due to complexities of working along the Norfolk Southern Railroad, moving utilities, and bringing the rail line up the median of North Tryon Street, construction was completed by the federal government’s deadline of March 2018.For Chancellor Dubois, bringing light rail onto campus lined up perfectly with the University’s strategic objective to deepen community connections. Throughout the planning and construction, Dubois stressed the opportunities that light rail would bring to the Charlotte community and to UNC Charlotte. In testimony to the Metropolitan Transit Commission he stated:“It’s a sound investment, good for the public, good for the environment, good for economic development, good for land use, and good for a community that continues to struggle with residential sprawl and strip mall development.” And in his annual letter to campus in Spring of 2018 he declared: “This opens unlimited opportunities for the entire University community in terms of new access to internships and employment for students; programs and events at both campuses; sports, cultural and entertainment options; and much more.”Development opportunities along the BLE began with the construction of the line itself which generated more than 9,000 jobs and infused an estimated $285 million into the local economy. By the time of the line’s completion, significant numbers of apartments, offices, restaurants, shops and other businesses had been constructed along the new rail corridor. Development boomed in particular in the neighborhoods of Optimist Park, NoDa, and University City, showing no sign of easing up. However, the 2020 census has revealed that development associated with Charlotte’s Blue Line rail corridor, north and south, is displacing people in historically Black and low-income neighborhoods due to gentrification and steeply increasing land values.

The UNC Charlotte Main Station is the northern terminus of the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) Lynx Blue Line. This light rail service connects UNC Charlotte’s main campus with its Center City Campus and extends to I-485, 18.9 miles to the south. The 9.3-mile section that links the main campus to uptown Charlotte, known as the Blue Line Extension (BLE) opened for service on Friday March 16, 2018. On that day UNC Charlotte’s Main Station was packed with approximately 1,000 students, faculty, and staff eager to be among the first to take the 22-minute ride to Center City and to enjoy the many festivities organized along the line.The distinctive sculptural seating located in the plaza on Cameron Boulevard between Main Station and Wallis Hall was commissioned by CATS and designed by Boston artist Mikyoung Kim, who also created the images on the station platform shelters. The undulating perforated stainless steel seating becomes even more dynamic at night when a choreographed lighting program is activated by pedestrians tripping motion sensors. The platform images, which are inspired by maps and time zones, respond to the shifting light cast by the daily movement of the sun shining through the glass. The installations are intended to communicate a message of movement, transformation, and flux.

UNC Charlotte Campus Walking Tour

UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information