Published Dec 22, 2022

We have had an eventful year at the Urban Design Center, and our most literally event-full project is Five Points Plaza in the heart of Charlotte’s Historic West End at 1803 W. Trade Street. Six years after our very first sketch on trace through an intensive co-creative planning, design, and construction process, we got off to a phenomenal start at our opening ceremony on March 12, 2022. The plaza sits at one of the oldest intersections in Mecklenburg County, where the “Five Points” of Trade Street, Beatties Ford Road, Rozelles Ferry Road, and West 5th Street meet. The plaza was designed as a gateway to northwest Charlotte, to celebrate the immeasurable contributions of the African American community to our city and welcome a new future in which equity and diversity take center stage. While people often think of designers as “handing over the keys,” to a project once it’s built, our approach to Urban Design is centered around creating thriving, vibrant, active places for people. We have committed to providing programs that keeps the plaza lively and humming, and with the support of the City of Charlotte, the Knight Foundation, and many others, especially the West End community, we have done just that. Our opening day was full of activity, and the chill in the air was no match for the warmth of the community as we saw our vision realized together. We had events ranging from a drum circle to yoga and fitness classes, to an arts walk and a double Dutch clinic. We rounded out the day with an Old School skate party set to music.

And that was us just getting started! Our Placemaking Event Coordinator, Jessica Macks, has spent 2022 making the community’s vision for Five Points Plaza come alive. We had fitness bootcamps, community bike rides, karaoke contests, and art walks. The Charlotte Symphony presented concerts from string quartets to jazz combos. And in June, when we got the Splash Pad up and running, the delight on children’s faces was a joy to behold!

We coped with summer thunderstorms and rescheduled our outdoor film screenings when needed to keep everyone safe and dry. On August 13th, the weather held steady for us, and we had a beautiful morning for our first Five Points 5K and Fun Run and saw great community participation — in addition to our 155 run participants, we had neighbors dancing on their porches to Dee Jay Kato’s tunes. Even the runners got in on it, with a line dance at our post-race party! And we raised over $ 5,000 for programming at Five Points Plaza.

We have hosted a wide range of vendors — too many to mention — supporting our events at the Plaza. We love our vendors for keeping the community fed, fit, and fantastic! Our events kept going strong through the fall, with our Music on the Plaza series including Borinquen Sublime’s Afro-Puertorican and Latin Jazz music for Hispanic heritage month, the Symphony’s brass quintet, and the Howard McNair Band. And we still weren’t finished!

We worked with our creatives community to paint a mural on Rita’s Italian Ice alongside the Plaza at a Community Paint Day with Lo’Vonia Parks and the Underground. And we celebrated all our incredible art in and around the Plaza with a public art series featuring live art, music, and vendors. To bookend the year, we had a visit from Santa Claus himself at our Jingle Jam Christmas Tree Lighting! We had music, hot cocoa, fresh donuts, and a movie, and — of course — pictures with Santa. All while collecting toys for donation to benefit the Southview Recreation Center.

Phew! Now our Placemaking Events Coordinator gets a well-deserved break to rest, recharge, and gear up for another great year of program, events, and community-building at Five Points Plaza. Thank you, Jessica! Happy New Year all!