The 2026 Recovery Dharma Summit will be held at the historic Second Ward Gym and the adjacent Mecklenburg Aquatic Center. The venue is located in Charlotte’s Center City, also called Uptown.
Center City is a vibrant urban core, well traversed on foot and by streetcar, light rail, rented scooters and bikes, city buses, and ride share services. Learn more about Charlotte.
History of the Second Ward Gym
The Second Ward Gymnasium, located at 710 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is the last remaining structure of Charlotte’s historic Second Ward High School—the city’s first public high school for Black students, founded in 1923. Though the school was demolished during urban renewal in 1969, the gym, built in 1949, survived as a powerful symbol of community resilience. Uptown Charlotte is divided into four wards – squares within a diamond pattern – with Second Ward being the southernmost. Within Second Ward, Brooklyn was the historical neighborhood identity, and the Brooklyn name is now resurging as the identity of this section of Second Ward. Site preparation is currently under way for construction of a new urban high school on adjacent land. The Gym is a historic landmark in Charlotte.
Designed by A.G. Odell Jr., one of Charlotte’s pioneering modernist architects, the gym exemplifies Mid-Century Modern architecture, specifically the International Style.
Its clean lines, exposed steel, masonry, and glass reflect the post-war design ethos that emphasized simplicity, functionality, and openness. This architectural significance earned the gym recognition as a historic landmark and a celebrated example of modernist design in the region.
In 2019, the gym was featured on the Mad About Modern Home Tour, organized by the Charlotte Museum of History. This annual event showcases Charlotte’s finest mid-century architecture, and the gym’s inclusion highlighted its role not only as a community hub but also as a design treasure. Today, it serves as a Mecklenburg County recreation center and houses the Second Ward Alumni House Museum, preserving both cultural and architectural heritage.
With a capacity of up to 600, the gymnasium will serve as our primary event space. The enormous stage area, which is accessible by a wheelchair lift, will serve as our mindful movement space, and possibly for event programming and entertainment.
We have contracted for two meeting rooms in the Aquatic Center, which can seat 40 or 50 people each. These will be used for a combination of breakout programming, quiet or affinity space, as needed. The smaller of the meeting spaces has an adjacent catering kitchen, which is also part of the contracted space.
Entrance to the Second Ward Gym
The (likely) registration area
The pathway from the Second Ward Gym (seen on left), leads directly to the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center (seen on right)