CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — This weekend marks a historic beginning on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The

Sonya Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History

opens its doors.

The facility includes office and lecture space, a dance studio and a music area.

Friday at 8 p.m., students will kick off the celebration with a candlelight vigil and procession from the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery to the new building. The event will honor early -- and mostly unrecognized -- African-Americans and others buried in the old cemetery who contributed to the building of UNC, as well as all who helped make the center possible.

The grand opening takes place Saturday through Monday. An exhibit featuring a collection of African-American art begins Monday.

The first major event at the center will be a visit from poet Sonia Sanchez on Friday, Aug. 27.

The Stone Center is located west of the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower off South Road.