# Dorothea Dix Park **URL:** \ **Category:** New Construction\ **Created:** [June 23, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310 "2018-06-23T16:55:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 87
**Author:** ![OakCityDylan](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/oakcitydylan/32/169_2.png) [@OakCityDylan](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/OakCityDylan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 8:55pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1754 "2024-12-18T20:55:49Z")
You’re clearly bias. ---
**Author:** ![mike](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/mike/32/26_2.png) [@mike](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/mike)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 1:49pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1755 "2024-12-19T13:49:59Z")
The big field is pretty much being left as is in the master plan. ![image](https://d3tmycllq5yp1y.cloudfront.net/original/3X/e/b/eb1ce2d982ebcabbaab4cfda991199abfa760448.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/orulz/32/3808_2.png) [@orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/orulz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1756 "2024-12-19T14:11:26Z")
I’ve said it here and got basically booed off the stage before, but I think the Fairgrounds may be a better venue for huge events like Dreamville than Dix. Dreamville is a similar scale event in terms of attendance compared to a day at the State Fair, or a football game. The facilities are designed to take that sort of abuse. The infrastructure, procedures, and staff are in place already to handle the crowds. Let Dix Park be a park - not an event venue. There’s a chance that the Fairgrounds may some day be sold off for redevelopment. Some other states have done this in the past! I really don’t want that to happen here. The more large-scale events that get hosted there, the greater the justification for keeping it around. ---
**Author:** ![Brandonq](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@Brandonq](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/Brandonq)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1757 "2024-12-19T14:41:17Z")
I can’t agree with that. Festival events at Dix will be a greater economic boom to the city as people will stay and spend downtown. Festivals are multi day events that people come all over for and do a lot of drinking at. Would not be a good fit for the fairgrounds car centric visit and go home model. Major parks near city cores are fantastic for festivals. Zilker Park (ACL), Grand Park (Lollapalooza), etc. ---
**Author:** ![Brandonq](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@Brandonq](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/Brandonq)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1758 "2024-12-19T14:45:34Z")
The Ridge is, as far as I know, definitely happening and it’s going to be a wow moment for visitors entering the park, but Dreamville (or any other fest) can still happen at the big field. ---
**Author:** ![Philip](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Philip](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/Philip)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:13pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1759 "2024-12-19T18:13:31Z")
The Hurricanes mascot is a pig??? 🤯 ---
**Author:** ![pBeez](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/pbeez/32/2461_2.png) [@pBeez](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/pBeez)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1760 "2024-12-19T18:28:11Z")
Pigs fly in Hurricanes, and there is ice hockey in Raleigh. Makes perfect sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![GucciLittlePig](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/guccilittlepig/32/25831_2.png) [@GucciLittlePig](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/GucciLittlePig)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1761 "2024-12-19T18:35:19Z")
There’s also their unofficial mascot, who recently retired: Hamilton the Carolina Hurricanes Therapy Pig. > **[Login • Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/hamiltondtr/)** > > Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world. ![image](https://d3tmycllq5yp1y.cloudfront.net/original/3X/7/b/7b2364b0f564efeb9648310d8483f7358cdaff1a.jpeg) _(counting down the minutes until Leo moves all of this pig nonsense out of the Dix Park thread…sorry!)_ ---
**Author:** ![BoyHowdy](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@BoyHowdy](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/BoyHowdy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1763 "2024-12-20T03:47:02Z")
> [@GucciLittlePig](#): > > We’re the 3rd biggest pork producer in the country. As the capital, we should have a very large pig statue at the entrance of downtown. So as not to burden the taxpayers too much, we should get corporate sponsorship. But we don’t want it to be tacky, so we’d need an upmarket, even luxury, brand. > > I’ve got it! A Gucci giant pig statue! What’s the Raleigh equivalent of High Point’s “Big Chair” or the giant Chest of Drawers? We need it. Our own _Vegas sphere_ in acorn shape? ![image](https://d3tmycllq5yp1y.cloudfront.net/original/3X/4/0/4004838eaaf81621e031131e816f97e428a1df13.jpeg) ![image](https://d3tmycllq5yp1y.cloudfront.net/original/3X/5/3/53c59d73b2e4b5bc92db94ad7250dd699d0ad541.jpeg) ![image](https://d3tmycllq5yp1y.cloudfront.net/original/3X/5/f/5fb3decd1e3235634bf20200d47669444c84927a.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![svp](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/svp/32/18832_2.png) [@svp](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/svp)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1764 "2024-12-20T22:19:39Z")
After seeing their new video I want to be a kid again so I can go play at the new Play Park. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSQyzWYZZ-s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSQyzWYZZ-s) ---
**Author:** ![orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/orulz/32/3808_2.png) [@orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/orulz)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1765 "2024-12-23T17:42:42Z")
Dorton Arena should be it. That place is an absolute gem. Hugely influential work of architecture, the crown jewel of our city’s architectural heritage, and to my knowledge nothing else comes close. Conceived in the late 1940s (think about that for a while!) Nothing similar existed before it, more or less anywhere in the world! And countless adaptations and evolutions have been built since. Even without that pedigree it’s simply awesome as hell, and should be celebrated as a landmark _way_ more than it is. ---
**Author:** ![oakcityyimby](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@oakcityyimby](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/oakcityyimby)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1766 "2024-12-23T18:48:49Z")
It’s such a cool building, but it’s marooned out in the middle of the Fairgrounds and hidden away from most angles. Not sure what the city could do to fix that. ---
**Author:** ![GucciLittlePig](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/guccilittlepig/32/25831_2.png) [@GucciLittlePig](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/GucciLittlePig)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2024, 6:53pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1767 "2024-12-23T18:53:44Z")
Move it downtown like a historic home. ---
**Author:** ![orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/orulz/32/3808_2.png) [@orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/orulz)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1768 "2024-12-25T14:44:07Z")
I think the _actual_ answer is to build a mixed use neighborhood around it. The Caterpillar equipment dealer, large NCDOT maintenance yard, and concrete supplier along Beryl Road could (should?) all make way for something reminiscent in scale to North Hills. ---
**Author:** ![apbassett](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@apbassett](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/apbassett)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1769 "2024-12-25T20:56:23Z")
🤞🏻 this is how NCDOT envisions the TOD around the potential S-Line station here, at least… ---
**Author:** ![orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/orulz/32/3808_2.png) [@orulz](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/orulz)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1770 "2024-12-26T14:57:18Z")
The thread is drifting marvelously (erm, perhaps I am drifting it) but I have always wished they could do something to address Dorton’s shortcomings such as acoustics and HVAC (lack thereof) so the venue could be used for more events. ---
**Author:** ![John](https://community.dtraleigh.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@John](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/John)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1771 "2025-01-07T15:20:00Z")
I know that we’ve talked about a lookout tower for Dix. Here’s a related project that’s happening in the Everglades. [What’s that big new lookout tower off Florida's Alligator Alley? Check out the plans](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/big-lookout-tower-off-floridas-100000034.html)? If not a tower, how about gutting the top floor of one of the existing buildings to remain and make it a hybrid outdoor event space with openings that operate like a lookout tower? ---
**Author:** ![trueurbanist](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/trueurbanist/32/23903_2.png) [@trueurbanist](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/trueurbanist)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1772 "2025-01-07T15:25:15Z")
The main hospital building is planned to have a rooftop lounge/garden so I’m sure that would suffice. Also, there is a planned square/skyline viewing area near the chapel. ---
**Author:** ![trueurbanist](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/trueurbanist/32/23903_2.png) [@trueurbanist](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/trueurbanist)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 12:09am UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1773 "2025-01-11T00:09:29Z")
The accessibility improvements project is now complete 👏🏽👩‍🦼‍:arrow\_right:👨‍🦽‍:arrow\_right:🧑‍🦯: - 1,850 linear feet of new sidewalk - 13 new crosswalks - 10 new handicap parking spaces All thanks to the $1 million ARPA funds from a Wake County grant. (All of this seems temporary until the master roadway & pedestrian plan is realized) [https://www.instagram.com/p/DEqOmV7hNwA/?igsh=ODZxMnNiajMyN2kw](https://www.instagram.com/p/DEqOmV7hNwA/?igsh=ODZxMnNiajMyN2kw) ---
**Author:** ![trueurbanist](https://community.dtraleigh.com/user_avatar/community.dtraleigh.com/trueurbanist/32/23903_2.png) [@trueurbanist](https://community.dtraleigh.com/u/trueurbanist)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310/1774 "2025-01-24T00:13:59Z")
Another milestone reached: The Dix Conservancy has named their first Artist in Residence, preston\_montague (on insta), who is an environmental and landscape architect 🌱🎨. More info: [https://www.instagram.com/p/DFLQhqEpf\_N/?igsh=MWdqeDk4c3BiMWR4Mw==](https://www.instagram.com/p/DFLQhqEpf_N/?igsh=MWdqeDk4c3BiMWR4Mw==) [Previous page](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310.md?page=86) [Next page](https://community.dtraleigh.com/t/dorothea-dix-park/310.md?page=88)