‘Hamilton’ star Renée Elise Goldsberry, fireworks kick off year of Lake Norman events
What better way to start a year than with community celebrations that include fireworks and a performance by a Broadway star?
That’s just for starters in the Lake Norman area in 2023.
Here are some of the major happenings to expect in the region throughout the year.
Broadway star highlights Cain Center for the Arts grand opening week
A performance by Tony Award-winning actress-singer Renée Elise Goldsberry will cap a week-long grand opening celebration for the Cain Center for the Arts in downtown Cornelius.
The $25 million hub for visual and performing arts includes a 400-seat theater, art gallery and classrooms, The Lake Norman Citizen reported.
The slate of events features tours, local talent showcases, art workshops and an evening with Goldsberry. Best known for her role as the original Angelica Schuyler in the musical “Hamilton,” she has performed in numerous other Broadway shows, including “The Color Purple” and “The Lion King.”
She will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, with doors opening at 6 p.m.
Tickets to the event also include a catered station-style dinner and a memory keepsake item.
Tickets are available at Etix.com. $10 parking tickets, $20 for valet, are also available on Etix.com.
An exhibit featuring pieces from Jake Pfiefer of Hot Glass Alley, a hot shop in Charlotte that specializes in glass art, also is part of the week.
The center is located at 19725 Oak St.
Mooresville, Huntersville to celebrate 150th years
The towns of Huntersville and Mooresville will host free community events throughout the year marking their sesquicentennials, or 150th years of incorporation.
See the full lineup of events here.
Former slave plantation could become educational site
The final draft is expected this spring of a plan to transform a former slave plantation near Huntersville, now called Latta Place, into an educational site, Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation staff said recently.
County officials closed the 19th-century site in June after organizers promoted a racist Juneteenth event, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The site could reopen with a new format offering a more complete story of life on the plantation, including exhibits showing the lasting impact of slavery in the county.
Developer to present Crystal Lagoon mega-attraction plans
Lake Norman developer Jake Palillo plans to submit a rezoning plan to the Huntersville Planning Board this year to turn a 270-acre site into a resort called Crystal Lagoons.
The tract, between N.C. 115 and Mayes Road near Westmoreland Road, is more than five times larger than Birkdale Village.
The proposed site would include commercial, retail and residential space, Cornelius Today reported.
Miami-based Crystal Lagoons has more than 250 projects in various stages of development in North America, South America, Asia and Europe, according to its website, with man-made water bodies big enough for swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding.
Birkdale Village eyes major expansion
Atlanta developer North American Properties has big additions in mind for Huntersville’s Birkdale Village mixed-use community in the 8700 block of Townley Road, off Interstate 77 at Exit 25.
Plans call for a 12-story, 125-room hotel; a commercial-residential building with 350 multi-family units; a seven-story office-commercial-building; and two six-story parking decks, according to Huntersville Planning Department documents.
The Huntersville Board of Commissioners is scheduled to consider a rezoning for the 8.82-acre project on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at Town Hall, 101 Huntersville-Concord Road, off I-77 Exit 23.
Relief for problem LKN roads inches closer
The state Department of Transportation will continue to buy right of way this year to expand West Catawba Avenue in Cornelius and N.C. 150 in Mooresville, local and state officials said.
In October, Cornelius Deputy Town Manager Wayne Herron delivered the news that widening West Catawba Avenue from Jetton Road to Sam Furr Road could take until 2029, three years longer than expected, Cornelius Today reported.
Herron blamed delays in the state buying right of way and relocating utilities for the $52 million project.
The two-lane, 2.7-mile stretch will be widened into a four-lane road with a 23-foot raised median, 5-foot bicycle lanes, a sidewalk on one side of the road and a 10-foot multi-use path on the other side, according to the NCDOT project page.
Right-of-way acquisition has begun on the Mooresville end of a $269.47 million project to widen N.C. 150 from U.S. 21 east of Exit 36 to N.C. 16 Bypass in Catawba County.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2025, according to NCDOT. Work on the Catawba County end is scheduled to begin in 2029. The state hasn’t released a projected end date for construction.
Ruling expected on fate of popular LKN farmers market
A Mooresville government panel is expected to decide the fate of a popular Lake Norman farmers market this month.
Josh’s Farmers Market beside Lowe’s YMCA was forced to closed in November.
Mooresville slapped ongoing daily fines on the YMCA because the town considered Josh’s to be a “full-time retail establishment,” not an “outdoor seasonal sales market,” town officials said in a news release posted on Facebook, NextDoor and other platforms.
Josh’s gave a monthly donation to the YMCA to use the Y-owned grassy field beside the Y building on Joe Knox Avenue. Josh’s agreed to pay any fines, or the legal fees to contest the fines.
Josh’s appealed the fines to the Mooresville Board of Adjustment, which heard testimony and arguments over eight hours at two meetings. The board continued its Dec. 20 meeting on the appeal to 2 p.m. Jan. 17 at Mooresville Town Hall, 413 N. Main St.
An attorney for the town was finishing her closing arguments when the board chairman asked the rest of the board to continue the hearing to the board’s Jan. 17 meeting, according to a recording of the meeting on the town’s website.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 11:36 AM.