Dix Park

Dorothea Dix Park

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 site offers expansive views of the downtown skyline and serves as a major open-space and civic amenity.^[1]

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.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Closure and state ownership

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.^[4]

Following the closure, the State of North Carolina retained ownership of the campus while considering future uses for the property.

Transfer to the City of Raleigh

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 funding supported by local bonds and other financing mechanisms.^[5]

City leaders identified the site as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a large public park close to downtown Raleigh, consistent with long-standing community interest in preserving the land as open space.

Park planning and public engagement

Early visioning and planning

Following acquisition of the property, the City of Raleigh initiated an extensive planning process to determine the future of Dorothea Dix Park. This process included public meetings, surveys, workshops, and engagement with community stakeholders.^[6]

In 2019, the City adopted the Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan, which established a long-term vision for the park’s development. The master plan emphasizes open space, flexible programming, environmental stewardship, and preservation of the site’s historic and cultural resources.^[7]

Governance and advisory structure

To support planning and oversight, the City created the Dix Park Inter-Departmental Team and a public advisory committee. The park’s development is coordinated across city departments, including Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, Planning and Development, and Transportation.^[8]

Dix Park Conservancy

The Dix Park Conservancy is a nonprofit organization established to support the development, activation, and long-term stewardship of Dorothea Dix Park. The Conservancy works in partnership with the City of Raleigh to raise private funds, coordinate programming, and advocate for the park’s long-term vision.^[9]

The organization was launched following the City’s adoption of the park’s master plan and reflects a governance model used by other large urban parks, in which a public owner partners with a nonprofit entity to support capital projects, operations, and community engagement.^[10]

The Conservancy’s stated priorities include:

Supporting implementation of the Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan
Fundraising for park improvements and amenities
Hosting and supporting public programming and events
Advancing equitable access and community engagement

The Conservancy operates under a formal agreement with the City of Raleigh and does not own the park property. Ultimate authority over land use and capital decisions remains with the City and the Raleigh City Council.^[11]

Development and phased implementation

Development of Dorothea Dix Park is planned to occur over multiple phases, reflecting the site’s size, infrastructure needs, and funding availability.

Key components identified in the master plan include:

Large open lawns and meadows
Tree preservation and landscape restoration
Adaptive reuse or removal of former hospital structures
Cultural programming and event spaces
Pedestrian and bicycle connections to surrounding neighborhoods

Initial improvements focused on safety, access, and interim uses, such as temporary event spaces, sunflower fields, and seasonal programming.^[12]

Major capital investments are expected to occur over decades, with project sequencing informed by infrastructure constraints and community priorities.

Relationship to city planning

Dorothea Dix Park is referenced in the City’s long-range planning documents, including the Raleigh 2030 Comprehensive Plan, as a key civic and recreational asset. The park is also considered in transportation, greenway, and cultural planning initiatives due to its proximity to downtown and regional trail networks.^[13]

Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan (2019)

In April 2019, the Raleigh City Council adopted the Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan, a long-range framework intended to guide the park’s design, development, and programming over multiple decades.^[14]

The master plan was developed following a multi-year public engagement and design process led by the City of Raleigh in collaboration with design consultants and community stakeholders. City materials describe the planning effort as one of the most extensive park-planning initiatives undertaken in Raleigh.^[15]

Planning principles

The adopted master plan emphasizes several guiding principles:

Preservation of large contiguous open spaces
Flexible landscapes that can accommodate evolving uses over time
Environmental stewardship and restoration
Integration with surrounding neighborhoods and downtown Raleigh
Limited permanent structures relative to the site’s size

The plan intentionally avoids prescribing a fixed build-out timeline, reflecting the City’s intent to allow the park to evolve in response to funding availability, community needs, and operational capacity.

Land use and program framework

Rather than dividing the park into traditional recreational zones, the master plan identifies broad landscape areas intended to support a mix of uses, including passive recreation, cultural events, and ecological restoration. Infrastructure investments such as roads, utilities, and drainage improvements are treated as prerequisite phases for future development.

City planning documents note that many former hospital buildings were evaluated for demolition or adaptive reuse, with decisions informed by safety, cost, and long-term maintenance considerations.^[16]

Implementation and phasing

Implementation of the master plan is expected to occur over several decades. Early phases have focused on interim uses, site stabilization, and public access improvements, while later phases contemplate major capital investments.

City staff have described the plan as a policy and vision document rather than a capital project schedule, with individual projects subject to future Council approval and funding decisions.^[17]

Public use and programming

The park hosts a variety of public events and activities, including festivals, fitness programming, educational events, and informal recreation. Portions of the site remain under development, and public access continues to expand as improvements are completed.^[18]

References

[1] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park

[2] ttps://www.ncpedia.org/dorothea-dix-hospital

[3] ttps://www.ncpedia.org/mental-health-care-north-carolina

[4] ttps://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/dorothea-dix-campus

[5] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park-history

[6] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park-planning

[7] ttps://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/DixParkMasterPlan.pdf

[8] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dix-park-advisory-committee

[9] ttps://dixpark.org/about/

[10] ttps://dixpark.org/about/our-story/

[11] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park

[12] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park-events

[13] ttps://raleighnc.gov/planning/services/2030-comprehensive-plan

[14] ttps://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/DixParkMasterPlan.pdf

[15] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park-planning

[16] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park-history

[17] ttps://go.boarddocs.com/nc/raleigh/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=BA9T5Q6DAB45

[18] ttps://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/services/dorothea-dix-park

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