| Property Segment | Approximate Acres |
|
Existing Regions |
|
| Current Dix Campus Acreage | 306 |
| Healing Place | 5 |
| Farmers' Market | 50 |
| Great Field | 50 |
| Historic Core | 74 |
| Floodplain, hillsides, landfill & grove | 95 |
| Spring Hill (NCSU) | 145 |
|
ULI Development Plan Regions |
|
| Development regions | |
| Town Houses | 136 |
| Single Family Homes | 38 |
| Office & Retail | 84 |
| Total Developed Land |
258 |
| Town greens surrounded by developed land | 23 |
| Park Region | 210 |
| Field given to NCSU for part of Spring Hill | 54 |
| Spring Hill property received for Great Field | 47 |
|
Park Plan by John Hoal for Friends of Dorothea Dix Park |
|
| Total park size | 354 |
| includes part of the Farmers' Market | 30 |
| Outparcel (Dix land not in park plan) | 17 |
It takes about 100 years to develop a true "Destination Park". Location is probably the most important thing and that is why Dix Park is so important because it is right downtown, only six blocks from the new convention center.
To become a "Destination Park" is to present an opportunity to the community. Opportunity for the Smithsonian to provide material for a satellite museum or maybe a Southern Folk History museum, or the Art Museum to place major sculptures on the property, or a collection in a building. Opportunity for NCSU to have outreach programs like their "American Homes", or to develop cultural performing venues with wider community participation. Opportunity to use the Great Field for great events. Opportunity for the Agricultural Department to showcase a demonstration project along side the retail Farmers' market. Opportunity...
About 1/3 of park land in any urban pars is used up in roads, parking, and maintenance areas, this reduces the "useful" property of the 200 acre Dix Park to about 140 acres. The ULI development cuts the park property off from a green space connection to the Centennial Campus wetlands that connect to both Lake Raleigh and Walnut Creek. By turning the Historic Core into a densely developed office park it eliminates the opportunity for museums and other attractions to locate in the the Historic Core preventing this unique area from becoming part of the attraction to the site. Great parks require about 400 acres, and without the whole property and the connections to other green space the park won't have the critical mass. Also, there is very little developable land to take advantage of opportunities that may arise. Most of the land is hillsides and floodplains that are fine for a passive park that would serve local residents, but not adequate to house the attractions that make for Destination Parks.
Yes, when central park was proposed the population of NYC was about the same
then as Raleigh is now, and Raleigh, being in the sun belt is the destination of
continuing population shift in the United States. We are currently growing at a
rate of about 5,000 people every six months. Central park is twice the
size of Dix Campus, so with that model in mind we need more land not less, and
that additional land is represented by the connections with Centennial Campus,
Walnut Creek Wetlands and Pullen Park.
When Central Park was conceived the land was surrounded by little villages of
immigrants, and almost all the population of NYC was below 37th street. It is
likely that those without vision thought it was a waste of effort and would never
succeed. There were periods where it appeared those naysayers were correct, but
the visionaries finally won out, and Central Park is one of the foremost parks
in the world.
It is entirely reasonable to expect multi story housing to surround Dix Park in
less than 50 years, and certainly within a 150 years the density will be
determined by the popularity of the downtown urban core. A density similar to
the current NYC housing surrounding Central Park is not unreasonable if we
create open space and urban parks so that the quality of life can keep pace with
our growth.
The land is purchased using Tax Increment Financing (TIF) (Which does not raise anyone's taxes) the same way the ULI plan does , except the TIF district is around the park rather than in it. It is also expected that the University residential development would enter the tax rolls under the TIF. The TIF does not increase a property's tax, but only captures the tax increase that arises from the increase in property value that would occur whether the TIF was in effect or not. Financing could also be done with a Bond, however the liability for paying it off would fall to the county as a whole rather than to the tax increment on the district. There are advantages and disadvantages to both Bonds and TIFs, but the important point is that the increase in revenue to the City and County both from increased property values resulting from the development of the park and increased sales tax revenue from additional visitors would be more than enough to pay for the land and its developement.
The FDDP (Friends) plan calls for all the DHHS employees to remain in the renovated buildings on the Dix Campus and to renovate additional buildings as needed for their offices, and then to remain in those offices for as long as they need them. FDDP expects they will migrate out to better facilities in 20 to 30 years. Their offices in the park will help with the development of the park as it is building out over many years.
The plan includes the preservation of the significant buildings. Initially DHHS will occupy most of them, and then FDDP expects that appropriate projects will apply to the park authority to renovate and use additional buildings for the public benefit. As examples: arts venues, museums, and technology demonstration. Since the park is in the front yard of NCSU, FDDP hopes that the university would choose to renovate and occupy some of the buildings for public outreach purposes.
In addition, when considering the preservation, it is important to recognize that the "National Historic Register" stated that the density of the buildings and sense of place, and the space between buildings was an important part of the historical context. A development with additional infill would not be appropriate, but replacing non-conforming buildings with conforming ones certainly would be appropriate.
FDDP suggests a museum and a memorial, however I would hope it would be done with significant public input particularly from the mental health community.
That is an important part of the FDDP plan. Removing the fence and creating good pedestrian access to the adjacent neighborhoods as well as greenway connections in all directions. A bridge to Pullen Park with the cooperation of the adjacent Catholic Diocese property would be helpful. Transit connections through the park and into Centennial Campus and NCSU's main campus as well as the downtown core is also a possibility, and in the long term a rail line that runs through the campus could be incorporated.
Friends of Dorothea Dix Park (FDDP) doesn't really take a stand on a particular plan for the details within the park. That is well beyond our scope. At this time FDDP is working toward a commitment to preserve the land for public use and developing a financial plan to show the legislators that this great vision is feasible.
We expect that the design of a master plan with public input and expert assistance would be the first step and that the park development would take place over many years.
FDDP only recommends preservation of the historically significant buildings. It is unlikely that FDDP or Dix306 will be deciding which buildings those are. Since we want no additional square footage of building footprint in the historic core the removal of "non significant or non conforming" buildings would open up space for new buildings built in an historically appropriate style to be built in the historic core and in such a way as to maintain the campus look and feel. The historic core should contain some "destination" for park visitors. In addition, the DHHS offices would occupy a large portion of the buildings and could support a couple of restaurants and cafes that could be grouped around a central square with several of the park venues. As there are more park visitors a transition to meet the needs of the public would likely occur. The tree lined roads already connect the historic core to the other areas of the park, and it is likely that transportation to and through Dix via CAT and possibly Wolfline would connect Centennial Campus, the NCSU main campus, the convention center and the downtown core along with its parking areas to the park.