Dix Park: Difference between revisions
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'''Dorothea Dix Park''' is a public park located southwest of downtown [[Raleigh, North Carolina]]. The park occupies approximately 308 acres of land formerly used as the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus and is one of the largest public parks in the City of Raleigh. The | '''Dorothea Dix Park ("Dix Park")''' is a public park located southwest of downtown [[Raleigh, North Carolina]]. The park occupies approximately 308 acres of land formerly used as the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus and is one of the largest public parks in the City of Raleigh and the southeast. The park has extensive views of the downtown skyline and is a major open-space and civic amenity.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Dix Park|url=https://dixpark.org/about|website=dixpark.org|publisher=City of Raleigh|access-date=June 26, 2026}}</ref> | ||
The park is owned and managed by the [[City of Raleigh]] and has been developed through a multi-phase planning and public engagement process following the closure of the hospital and transfer of the property from the State of North Carolina to the city. | The park is owned and managed by the [[City of Raleigh]] and has been developed through a multi-phase planning and public engagement process following the closure of the hospital and transfer of the property from the State of North Carolina to the city. | ||
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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> | 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= | 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 | === 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 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: | |||
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 | |||
* 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. | |||
== Park planning and Master Plan == | == Park planning and Master Plan == | ||