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The final piece of the new $100 million cultural campus in Uptown Charlotte opens this week. The Mint Museum of Art joins the Bechtler Museum, the Gantt Center and the Knight Theater in what city leaders hope will be a thriving arts center for the region. The Bechtler and the Gantt have been open for many months now, but the Mint took a bit longer - partly because it's nearly twice as big as those other two combined. And there was a lot of art to be painstakingly dismantled at the Mint's two locations and carefully transported across town. But finally, the new Mint is ready, says Executive Director Kathleen Jameson. "Even better is the fact we have the two museums under one roof where we can begin to play and move things between the two floors and see how closely related craft and design and the fine arts or decorative arts are with each other," says Jameson. The museum's cavernous new home has allowed Mint curators to dust off works that have been in storage for years, and still have room for more ambitious traveling exhibits. The new Museum cost $56 million to build - much of that coming from a tax on car rentals. In the coming months, the Mint's historic location on Randolph Road will be dedicated to displaying the museum's extensive collection of Ancient American Art, Historic Costume and Fashionable Dress, among other things. The Mint Museum's grand opening Uptown begins at 5 p.m. this Friday with a 24-hour schedule of activities. Admission will free to the public this Saturday.