Editing Dix Park (section)

== Site history ==

=== Dorothea Dix Hospital ===
The land that now comprises Dorothea Dix Park was established in the mid-nineteenth century as the site of the North Carolina Insane Asylum, later known as [[Dorothea Dix Hospital]]. The hospital opened in 1856 and was named for Dorothea Dix, a mental health reformer whose advocacy contributed to the creation of public institutions for the care of people with mental illness.<ref>{{cite web |last=Covington |first=Howard E., Jr. |title=Dorothea Dix Hospital |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/dorothea-dix-hospital |website=NCPedia |publisher=North Carolina Museum of History |access-date=October 24, 2023}}</ref>

Over more than a century, the campus expanded to include numerous buildings, roadways, and utility systems and functioned as a major state psychiatric facility. The hospital played a significant role in North Carolina’s mental health system but was also associated with changing approaches to institutional care over time.<ref>{{cite web|title=Psychiatric Hospitals|url=https://www.ncpedia.org/psychiatric-hospitals|website=NCPedia|publisher=NCPedia|access-date=June 26, 2026}}</ref>

=== Closure and transfer to the City ===
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, North Carolina shifted away from large institutional psychiatric hospitals toward community-based mental health care. As part of this transition, Dorothea Dix Hospital gradually reduced operations and officially closed in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dorothea Dix Campus |url=https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/dorothea-dix-campus |website=ncdhhs.gov |publisher=North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services |access-date=October 24, 2023}}</ref>

In 2015, the State of North Carolina and the City of Raleigh reached an agreement transferring ownership of the Dorothea Dix campus to the city. The transfer was structured as a purchase by the city for approximately $52 million, with the sale proceeds going towards state mental health programs.<ref>{{cite web|title=Council OKs Dix property purchase - McCrory: Proceeds of $52M sale will go to mental health programs|url=https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article19380408.html|website=https://www.newsobserver.com/|publisher=The News & Observer|access-date=June 26, 2026}}</ref> The full terms of the sale were:

* Raleigh would pay the state $2 million of the $52 million total on the date the contract is executed.
* The city would do site examinations before closing on the deal to get an idea of maintenance and environmental remediation costs.
* As part of the site examinations, the city would test for asbestos and lead-based paint. It would not do "invasive testing," including soil boring.
* The city would notify the state of any environmental hazard identified.
* The city and state would close on the deal no more than 60 days after the city's receipt of funding, and no later than Feb. 29, 2016.
* The city would take over a 1999 lease agreement with The Healing Place of Wake County, a nonprofit recovery program for homeless people struggling with alcohol and drug addiction.
* If the General Assembly passed a law that would restrict the city's use of the property for more than one year, the city could terminate the contract.
* The city would not take over the state's liabilities regarding the landfill site on the property.
* If the city decided to sell or lease any part of the property, the state and city would share equally in the proceeds for no longer than 17 years.
* The state would be responsible for maintaining landscaping and vegetation in its leased area.
* The state and city would work together to maintain and repair access roads, including fixing potholes and removing snow and ice.

A group of Republican State legislators attempted to block the direct sale to the City, and instead auction off the park for a minimum of $52 million.<ref>{{Cite web|access-date=June 26, 2026|publisher=NC General Assembly|website=ncleg.gov|url=https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2015/Bills/Senate/PDF/S705v1.pdf|title=SENATE BILL 705: Ensure Fair Sale of Dorothea Dix Property.}}</ref> The bill did not leave the Committee on Health Care.