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‘We will evaluate the best path forward.’ Latta Plantation closed until further notice

After controversy over a racist Juneteenth event description, the Historic Latta Plantation is closed until further notice, the Mecklenburg Park and Recreation Department announced Thursday.

The statement says all previously scheduled events are canceled while the department assesses the future use of the county-owned property.

The 19th century house is owned by Mecklenburg, while a nonprofit operates the facilities and runs the events at the plantation site.

“Over the next few months, we will evaluate the best path forward for Latta Plantation and its programming, ensuring that the site is utilized in an appropriate, forward-thinking manner,” said Park and Recreation Director W. Lee Jones in the statement. “As our review continues, we feel it is in the best interest of the community and the property to close for now until other plans can be announced.”

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Earlier this week, Jones voiced concern to county commissioners over summer programs training children how to be like “young Confederate soldiers” and “Southern belles.”

Jones had also announced Mecklenburg would not be renewing its contract, which ends June 30, with the Historic Latta Place Inc. nonprofit it had contracted with to manage the site. The county allocated about $30,000 to the nonprofit annually to support operations, the Observer reported this week.

The town of Huntersville, in a statement last week, said its annual $20,000 contribution to the plantation “will remain on hold pending further investigation into the facts surrounding the program.”

But with Mecklenburg backing out of its contract, the plantation’s request to Huntersville is “no longer valid,” town Commissioner Stacy Phillips tweeted Tuesday evening.

Nature preserve still open

In the meantime, the Latta Nature Preserve will continue to operate.

Historic Latta occupies roughly 6 acres on Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s sweeping Latta Nature Preserve, a 1,460-acre property along the shoreline of Mountain Island Lake.

According to the county’s website, there are 16 miles of trails for hikers and horseback riders at the preserve, plus boat launch areas, a fishing dock and the largest eagle aviary in the Southeast, the Carolina Raptor Center.

The walking trails and other amenities of the nature preserve will still be available to the public. The closure of the house and grounds will not affect the Raptor Center, Quest or other services in the Nature Preserve, the county statement reads.

The Carolina Raptor Center announced it would offer free admission on June 19 via a statement on its website.

“The Raptor Center deeply values the diversity of our community and stands in support of racial and social equity,” the statement reads. “Raptors don’t discriminate and neither do we.”

The Juneteenth controversy

Plantation management swiftly removed the event description from its website on June 11 after widespread backlash.

The controversial event, called “Kingdom Coming,” was set for June 19. The description promised to tell the story of “white refugees” and defeated Confederate soldiers and didn’t acknowledge that Black people were enslaved for centuries or the significance of Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the United States.

Instead, the event struck a sympathetic tone for those who had owned slaves, referring to one slave owner as an “overseer” and “massa.”

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles tweeted that the Historic Latta Plantation “should know better” on June 11. Site manager for the Huntersville plantation Ian Campbell, despite taking “full responsibility” for the event, called Lyles out the following day and refused to apologize.

And County Commissioner Vilma Leake on Tuesday demanded accountability from Campbell. “I want everybody to be treated — all of us to be treated fairly — and respected,” Leake said.

A protest is still scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. at the plantation.

Observer reporter Alison Kuznitz contributed to this report.