Uptown’s Verona Lounge will be celebrating its two-year anniversary on Friday, August 1st. The lounge will have a beer special of $2 and premium shots for $4. This event will be open to everyone, however, friends of the restaurant and CLT Blog will be receiving VIP tickets that waive a cover charge at the door. Please let us know if you want a ticket! Stop by to meet some members of the blog, and make sure you say hello!

image credit: The Gazi Company

Those of you who have been downtown recently can easily see growth is under way. Charlotte’s new EpiCentre, located on the corner of College and 4th Streets, is just the beginning of the move toward a pedestrian-friendly live/work/play environment Uptown. This weekend, the EpiCentre held its grand opening, a “don’t miss” event, for Suite- an upscale nightclub. Suite’s tickets described the event to be “ultimately first class, with service that is ultra-upscale with views from the Skyview terrace that will take your breath away.”

Justin and I saw lots of familiar faces this weekend and were given the opportunity to meet new ones. We are just as pumped and enthusiastic about Charlotte as all of you. Definitely make time to visit Suite; you will be pleasantly surprised and impressed! Also, be on the lookout for the new shops and bars coming to EpiCentre! We’ll keep you posted…don’t worry!

Read on for pictures from the event.

See these images on Flickr.

image credit: DayLove

dates: Thursday, May 22 – Saturday, May 24
time: 11 am through Midnight

Food Lion will be hosting the fourteenth annual Speed Street uptown, starting on Thursday, May 22. This event is put on to promote Charlotte and its surrounding communities, in addition to celebrating NASCAR as a part of Charlotte’s heritage. It’s always held between the Sprint All-Star and Coca Cola 600 races and is considered one of the world’s largest race events of the year.

Speed Street occupies more than 10 blocks of uptown Charlotte and is a three-day event. The festival will have three stages for performances: the Miller Lite stage, the Coca-Cola stage, and the Budweiser stage. Check out the official event map. This year’s lineup of performers includes Chevelle, Seether, Flyleaf, Kellie Pickler, Jagged Edge, Travis Tritt, Gary Allan, Danielle Peck, Hot Sauce, Ligion, Rev Theory, 13 Stories, SwampDaWamp, Caddle, the Modern Skirts, Kiss Army, Gasoline Alley, Auto Vaughn, Maria Howell, the Young Sons, and the Newz. Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer, in addition to several pit crews, will hold autograph sessions.

All of the events are free. If you plan to drink alcohol, make sure to bring an ID, because there will be checkpoints to get armbands. For more detailed schedules and information, go to 600 Festival Association.

If you happen to be in NoDa this Friday for the gallery crawl, you just might be surrounded by gnomes. Each gnome is displayed in various shops and galleries on North Davidson Street. So what’s the hype about these creatures? And where do they come from?

NoDaRioty is hosting their first neighborhood art project: Pimp My Gnome. Twenty-six artists were invited to pimp out clay garden gnomes. After everyone has had the opportunity to see all the gnomes this weekend, these will be put up for live auction on May 14th at the Neighborhood Theatre. Below is a map displaying the gnome depots; more information can be found at NoDarioty’s website.

Rob Niccolai of Canvas monkey said:

“Gnomes have been said to be the guardian of the earth’s treasures. it just seemed to fit the eclectic style of NoDa.”

Canvas Monkey and Mercury Noda are sponsoring the NoDarioty Art Project.

I’ve overheard people saying that Charlotte is slowly losing bits of its original character. I disagree that Charlotte has lost anything; it’s actually growing like wildfire. Most people just don’t know where to find stuff or haven’t heard by word of mouth. Groups that integrate their projects with the community not only draw more attention but have more long-term potential. The best thing any of these groups can do is keep us excited about living in the Queen City, as well as just having fun!

The Freelon Group of Research Triangle Park, NC was recently awarded the 2007 AIA Triangle Award for Unbuilt Projects. In association with Neighboring Concepts, they will be designing Charlotte’s new Afro-American Cultural Center, its mission being to promote and preserve African American culture, history, and art.

The museum takes design inspiration from the Meyers school, which was located in Charlotte’s Brooklyn district, the once-thriving center of the Black community that was razed in the 1960’s. It will consist of an outdoor amphitheatre, an indoor theatre, and two galleries. The facade of the building is composed of aluminum panels arranged to represent patchwork quilts. It will be located on Stonewall Street, between South Tryon and College Streets. The construction is to be completed by 2009.

More info at Architectural Record and the AACC website.

Images by studioamnd, courtesy The Freelon Group