'A park for everybody:' Here's the first look at the future plan for Dorothea Dix Park
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Triangle residents are getting a first look at the potential future of Dorothea Dix Park.
The City of Raleigh released the draft of the master plan for the park Monday, which came after 18 months of input from the community.
"We have had 45,000 pieces of input from people. It's incredible how much the community is really engaged in that. Our goal was to build a park for everybody, which is a hard thing to do," said Mayor Nancy McFarlane. "It's been heartwarming, but it's also been thrilling to see this many people across the city engage, across the county engage in what they want to see and their dreams and hopes. We hope this master plan reflects that."
Dix Park is made up of a whopping 308 acres.
The plan focuses on the creation of six landscapes: the Creek, the Grove, the Meadow, the Gateway, the Ridge, and the Valley.
The six landscapes are defined and built from past and existing features of the land.
The public comment period for the draft Master Plan is Jan. 4-18. Then, at the Feb. 19 City Council meeting, the master plan will be presented for discussion. It is staff's recommendation to City Council to adopt the Master Plan for Dorothea Dix Park and to direct staff to develop an implementation plan for Phase A.
So what's the timeline? It is anticipated that Phase A will take less than 10 years, but each of these projects will have its own timeline for completion. The start and completion of other phases will depend on a variety of factors including future studies, operation and maintenance costs, funding and fundraising, and existing leases.
As far as funding goes, the plan lists four funding options: public funding (city general fund, bonds, taxes), fundraising (Dix Park Conservancy donations, grants), earned income (concessions, event fees, rentals) and value capture (leases of park property, real estate value capture of neighboring property).
You can share your feedback here.
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