North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
If you planned to party on Dec. 10 to celebrate the grand opening of the new Mecklenburg County Bar and Foundation Center, your calendar is now clear.
Officials announced Tuesday that the opening has been temporarily postponed due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
“Nothing big to report regarding the delay,” wrote Rhea Kelley, bar director of communications and member networking director, in an email. “We are just working with our general contractor to finish up a few items before we [start] the Celebration.”
Bar president Nancy Roberson said that while she is disappointed in the delay, she is still very excited, adding that the bar wanted everything to be just right for the new location’s first day of business.
“We moved in a little later than we’d hoped to and had to make a decision whether to open up or delay it a little,” Roberson said. “When it happens, it’s going to be great and grand.”
The free walk-in legal clinic scheduled for Dec. 13 has also been postponed and will be rescheduled in early spring 2015, according to a press release.
The bar is moving its headquarters from its Myers Park location, which it sold last year, to the new, 24,000-square foot building in the Greenway Business Center on Zebulon Avenue. The $5.5 million project boasts state-of-the-art conference rooms, meeting spaces and other amenities including a mock courtroom, “relaxing patio” and plenty of parking, which was a must-have for a bar membership that has nearly tripled since 1993.
The 150 parking spaces — up from 20 at its last location — will “eliminate added costs to attend MCB CLEs, events and meetings while encouraging Bar members to take advantage of their Bar Center,” according to the bar’s website.
Roberson couldn’t confirm a new grand opening date but said that the bar is aiming for early 2015.
