A groundbreaking ceremony in Huntersville on Monday marked the start of construction on an $11.2 million redevelopment project at a historic site that closed five years ago amid controversy tied to a Juneteenth celebration.
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More than 50 people gathered at Historic Latta Place, where they recognized the men, women, and children enslaved on the land. Kodi Ardrey, 47, attended the groundbreaking. Ardrey has deep ties to the property and discovered that his own family was once enslaved there, a revelation that brings a range of emotions.
"It's mixed because it brings so much context to everything," Ardrey said. "The good is that I found my family and I know where they lived. At the same time, I know what they were subjected to. Overall, it's a wonderful thing to know that I'm connected to this area and something I can share with my own family to preserve our history."
The site was formerly known as Latta Plantation. It closed in 2021after public backlash over plans for a Juneteenth event that focused on the white residents, including discussions about "white refugees" after the "downfall of the Confederacy." The event had promised to deliver stories from “the massa himself." The site’s manager posted a 1,300-word defense of the event and wrote, “no apology will be given for bringing a unique program to educate the public about former slaves becoming FREE!”
The county ended its contract with the group that had operated the site.
Ardrey said he would like to see measures put in place to prevent similar controversies from happening again.
"It shouldn't happen in the first place," Ardrey said. "There should be ways to make sure something like that never happens again. In terms of the site being used for any purpose, there should be some level of oversight."
Leslie Johnson, Mecklenburg County's deputy county manager, outlined plans to ensure the site is not used to promote or hold controversial programming in the future.
"One of the significant differences is that when we closed Latta, we chose not to renew the contract with the vendor," Johnson said. "Operations moving forward will be managed and maintained by Mecklenburg County instead of being contracted out. That allows us to ensure what happens on the site aligns with our values rather than having someone independently do it for us."
The county plans to reopen the site next year with a new visitor center and an interactive trail that will educate visitors about all who occupied the land.
"It will allow you to see what the site would have looked like from an Indigenous person's perspective, from an enslaved person's perspective, as well as from the perspective of the landowners," Johnson said. "Historically, when you visit certain sites, you only see it through the lens of the landowners. The intentionality here is ensuring we tell the stories of all who have touched this soil."
