The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History is housed in a tri-level, 44,500 square-foot building nestled in Coker Woods adjacent to the Bell Tower. The building stands as one of the most significant accomplishments of the University community who, at the urging of a coalition of students, agreed to build and support the Center under the Office of the Provost.
The building houses the staff of the Stone Center, seminar rooms, classrooms, a 10,000-volume lending library, a computer classroom, art gallery and museum, 360-seat auditorium, a multipurpose room, a dance studio, several office suites, single offices and space for visiting scholars/artists. In 1993, the University’s Board of Trustees approved the site for the Center, and assured the campus community it would be integrated into the master construction plan for the University and serve as a resource for the entire campus. Designed by the award-winning architectural firm the Freelon Group and built by Clancy and Theys Construction firm, more than 95 percent of the Center’s cost of over $9 million was met through private gifts.
All costs for the building were funded with private gifts, contributed by more than 1,500 donors. UNC provided instructional technology in the building’s six classrooms.
Hitchcock Multipurpose Room | Stone Center
Library | Stone Center
Brown Gallery | Stone Center
Auditorium | Stone Center