Charlotte's Afro-American Cultural Center will launch on Thursday a 100-day countdown to the opening of the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture, the first project opening in the new uptown cultural campus.

On Oct. 17, the center will have a gala in the new facility titled “Where You Belong.” A sunset ceremony is scheduled for the Afro-American's current home on Oct. 23, and on Oct. 24 a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at the new Gantt Center, followed by 35 hours of programming featuring music, dance, art and a gospel celebration.

The Gantt Center will display the Hewitt Collection, purchased in 1998 by Bank of America. It includes work from artists including Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Jonathan Green and Ann Tanksley.

Other destinations in the new cultural campus on South Tryon Street will include the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, the Mint Museum of Art and the Knight Theater. -- Mark Washburn

Regional briefs

York County

Rock Hill

Light streams of smoke, not nearly as thick as two days before, continued to rise near the smokestacks of the old Bleachery site near downtown Rock Hill on Sunday as firefighters extinguished hot spots that remain from the Friday afternoon blaze.

Rock Hill Fire Department Capt. Scott Caldwell said Sunday that he expects firefighters to continue to work at the abandoned building for at least a couple more days walking the inside looking for these “problem areas.”

About 15 firefighters were inside the old mill Sunday, walking through and looking for areas that were still smoldering, Caldwell said. These hot spots were mostly along the backside of the former Rock Hill Printing & Finishing Co. Sunday afternoon, he said.

He couldn't estimate how many hot areas were left in the building.

Investigators haven't determined the cause of the fire in the building, which reaches from Winthrop University to the downtown area. -- The (Rock Hill) Herald