The Raleigh Convention Center is a fitting place to create a permanent honor to former Mayor Charles Meeker, who left office last week at the end of his fifth term.
It was Meeker who led the charge to build the $221 million venue, pitching it as a key step in the revitalization of downtown.
Now, law partners, friends and colleagues have honored Meeker with a collection of tributes in the center, which opened in 2008.
A bronze plaque with Meeker's likeness and two art pieces will be permanently displayed in the lobby next to the ballroom, both of which were formally renamed in the former mayor's honor in a Tuesday evening ceremony.
The art was donated by Meeker’s law partners at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein.
Artist Gayle Stott Lowry’s oil-on-canvas, Merging Past and Present, depicts the downtown skyline from the Boylan Bridge. This, too, is fitting, given that Meeker lives in the Boylan Heights neighborhood.
Raleigh native Bob Rankin’s 2011 triptych, Primary Raleigh, an acrylic on canvas, offers images of the city’s iconic buildings.
The plaque lauds Meeker for his “brilliant and unswerving leadership” in guiding Raleigh “to the pinnacle of American municipalities, heralded for its balanced and unequaled quality of life.”
Lettering on the wall names the ballroom and mezzanine lobby in Meeker's honor.
