Mecklenburg County to Host Community Event, Panel Discussion for Latta Place

Latta Nature Preserve

 Mecklenburg County invites residents to attend a community event and panel discussion for the historic Latta Place project.  

The Community Grounding Event will take place on April 6, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at David B. Waymer Recreation and Senior Center in Huntersville. The event will recognize the history of the project and look to the future, with a panel discussion and opportunities for residents to provide input on the design of Latta Place.  

Latta Place is a historic home situated on 16 acres within the Latta Nature Preserve in Huntersville. Before its closure in 2021, Latta Place was a circa-1800 living history museum and farm that gave visitors glimpses into 19th century life in the Carolina backcountry. The house's original builder and owner, James Latta, enslaved 34 men, women and children on the property.  

In the years since it closed the site, Mecklenburg County has embarked on a thoughtful and community-driven process to create a new chapter in Latta Place’s history.  

Redevelopment is set to begin in the winter of 2024-2025, ahead of the historic site’s reopening to the public in 2026. Continued community engagement and dialogue about the site’s future are essential as Mecklenburg County works toward the reopening.  

The Community Grounding Event is the next opportunity for residents to weigh in on the site’s design, with more opportunities to come. Later this spring, the County will hold additional community events to report back and share with residents the design options for the development, and to receive more feedback on those options.

Community Grounding Event Panel

The panel discussion will take place 11 a.m. to noon. Kofi Boone, University Faculty Scholar and a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at NC State University’s College of Design, will moderate. Boone’s work focuses on the overlap of landscape architecture and environmental justice. Other panelists include:  

  • Wali Cathcart, a former Negro League baseball player, a gardener and a descendant of people who were enslaved in Brattonsville, South Carolina.  
     
  • Delphine Sellars, executive director of Urban Community AgriNomics, a Durham-based nonprofit focused on agriculture and access to fresh food.  

From noon to 2 p.m., community members are invited to participate in engagement and feedback activities for all ages.