VisitCentennial, Alamo Drafthouse and NC State University Libraries have come together to put on a free movie series at Lake Raleigh on Centennial Campus throughout the month of September. The groups hope to make Centennial Campus a destination and not just an extension of NC State.
VisitCentennial was created by Jude DesNoyer, the activation program manager for NC State’s Real Estate & Development Office, in order to bring attention to Centennial Campus as its own entity.
“Centennial Cinema Series is another activation program that we’re launching this fall,” DesNoyer said. “It’s to further help reintroduce Centennial Campus as not only a place for students and education and professional development, but also for a community destination not only for the people of Raleigh, but to people in the Triangle.”
DesNoyer said VisitCentennial wanted to do something unique that people don’t normally get the chance to do in the fall in order to reach a larger group of people.
“I decided to do this in the fall because there are over 50 opportunities to see free outdoor movies in the Triangle in the summer, but there are very few opportunities for that to happen in the fall,” DesNoyer said. “Also, students are back in session, and people are taking fewer vacations on the weekend, so hopefully we reach a larger demographic in the fall and on a Friday evening.”
DesNoyer said that VisitCentennial decided to partner with Alamo Drafthouse and University Libraries to use their knowledge and reach a mutually beneficial partnership.
“[VisitCentennial] are the visioning backbone and do the majority of everything,” DesNoyer said. “Alamo Drafthouse is involved because they’re very interested in community relationships and community engagement. We kind of sought them out as someone who could help us and be a marketing partner and help us get deeper into the movie-going scene … The libraries are involved because I just love working with the library as much as possible. I feel like they are one of the more innovative entities at NC State. They have a very good movie program, as well as they are allowing us to use Hunt Auditorium if it does rain.”
Marian Fragola, director of program planning and outreach for University Libraries, said the libraries are happy to be involved with the event because it brings attention to all of the parties involved.
“We see the libraries as a third place,” Fragola said. “That’s the concept; that it’s not your house or your work, but it’s a third place that you can build community around. In a lot of ways, the library mirrors Centennial as a third place and what the folks at Centennial are trying to do in terms of making Centennial a community of people. We want to feel like Centennial is a destination because we feel like the more people that know about Centennial as a destination, then the more people know about the libraries.”
According to the Eventbrite page, they will be showing The Secret Life of Pets 2 on Sept. 13, Toy Story 4 on Sept. 20 and Dumb and Dumber on Sept. 27. For more information on VisitCentennial, visit its website.
