Durham, N.C. - Duke's new West Campus Plaza is more than just a replacement for the cramped walkway that once connected the Bryan Center to the main quad.

The 40,000-square-foot plaza, opening this month, will be a gathering place for students, faculty, staff and campus visitors.

"The Plaza is the bricks-and-mortar expression of Duke's ongoing commitment to cultivate and celebrate community. It may be a quiet place for some and a meeting place for others," says Chris Roby, Duke's director of student life. "One day the Plaza might be a performance stage; the next day it's a reception space."

Designed by Hargreaves Associates, the firm that created the Sydney Olympics 2000 site, the Plaza will provide a new social place to eat, talk, stroll, study and relax. It has places to sit, a mist fountain and a wireless network.

To show off some of the possibilities offered by this new space, the opening of the new plaza will be celebrated with a five-week series of events, "Plaza 2006," beginning Aug. 26.

The celebration includes concerts, outdoor movies and performance art. During the first week, calypso and bluegrass bands will perform during lunchtime, including Duke graduate and blues musician Jon Shain, who performs Aug. 30. Other noontime entertainment includes caricature and henna artists, magician and a fortune teller. Food and drinks will be available for sale, including gourmet popsicles from Locopops.

Activities continue through September, with a step show, films, student bands and arts performances. Festivities culminate with Oktoberfest on Sept. 29.

But that's just the beginning. "The opportunities are endless," Roby says.