Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW) will celebrate the grand opening of its new campus Oct. 3 with a celebrity chef event after a ribbon-cutting ceremony and school tours.

Previously planned for the first week of September, Hurricane Dorian forced planners to reschedule the celebration.  

The day will kick off with a limited-seating ribbon-cutting ceremony that is open to the public at 2 p.m., followed by campus tours at 3 p.m.

Celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse and Robert Irvine have confirmed that they will be in attendance for the gala, which will feature several of their recipes presented as small plates by Christi Ferretti and her staff at Pine Valley Market. Guy Fieri was also slated to attend the event prior to the postponement, and is still hoping to be there, according to organizers. Cast Iron Kitchen, one of the local eateries featured on Fieri's Food Network program Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives will serve up some of the dishes Fieri enjoyed during his visit to the restaurant.

The three chefs have each helped raise significant funds for the campus at annual celebrity chef events: Lagasse in 2016, Fieri in 2018 and Irvine earlier this year. The chef events reflect the career of GLOW founder Judy Girard, who was president of the Food Network from 1994 to 2004.  

GLOW Academy is North Carolina’s only single-gender public charter school. The combined middle and high school opened in August 2016, in temporary facilities, and moved into the new $14.5 million, 14-acre campus for the 2019/2020 academic year.   

The school, on a 31-acre site next to Maides Park, at the end of Sunglow Drive in Wilmington, serves about 400 sixth- through ninth-grade students.

The campus, built on land donated by the Cameron family, includes an 18,600-square-foot middle school building, a 19,183-square-foot high school building and a media center, as well as a cafeteria, makerspace, teaching kitchen and administrative offices. Another 20,000 square feet of covered, outdoor education spaces is included on the site.

Gala tickets, which can be purchased online, are $250 each and also include beer and wine.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the types of dishes Cast Iron Kitchen will serve at the event and the types of drinks included in the ticket price.

Have a tip for Restaurant Roundup? Email: [email protected].