Latta Place is a historic plantation situated within a 1,460-acre nature preserve outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. The plantation, which was established in 1800 along the Catawba River, is currently stewarded by Mecklenburg County. It is a site of significance and meaning both to the local region and within the broader national dialogue concerning sites with histories of enslavement. The County hopes to make Latta Place a more inclusive space, expanding the historic narratives shared with visitors and providing a greater range of experiences and programming.
Agency, along with an expert interdisciplinary design team, is leading a community-engagement and design process to develop an authentic and collaborative approach to the site that recognizes Latta Place as a site of historical trauma for many. A Grounding Event with a panel discussion and interactive community meeting kicked off the process and a public presentation and meeting allowed the team to share detailed design. The project has advanced with the guidance of an expert steering committee called The Latta Place Partners.
With the re-opening of Latta Place, there is tremendous opportunity to reveal a cultural landscape that reckons with the past while looking to the future of the Mecklenburg County community and beyond. The concept includes a Visitors Center that will act as a portal to the farmstead and an interpretive trail to bring visitors into the landscape where generations of Catawba, enslaved people, and tenant farmers worked and lived.
Our team includes Perkins&Will, Kimley-Horn Associates, The Design Minds, Kofi Boone, and McIntosh Poris Architects. We are collaborating with a steering committee that is committed to telling the story of Latta Place with truth, empathy, and compassion.
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