I would certainly hope that they wouldn’t put something in the way of the long view, but then again I doubt that they’d do anything substantial since Gipson Play Plaza is already there.
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Maybe you’re going at different times but I wouldn’t call Willow House “kid-centric.” I can’t recall seeing any kids in there most of the times I’ve been.
I agree that not everything needs to be focused on it but that strikes me as an odd characterization that maybe informs some other stuff
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As someone who goes to Willow House about 2x a week, I don’t really understand why anyone would consider it “kid centric.” It’s a pretty diverse crowd - lots of young couples, folks having a casual work meeting, college age kids studying, etc.
A kid centric coffee spot would be something like Bumble Brews in Cary.
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Why do you hate kids?
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I don’t and you know I don’t, but it’s A Park for Everyone not just a park for kids. To others’ points, there is so much space, not everything needs to try serve every single purpose. There’s room for plenty more playgrounds other than Gipson, it just feels unnecessary here. How is the area around the coffee shop not a “natural play area” already? There’s grass, a hill, and a troll. When I was a kid that would have been fine for having fun.
I knew I was playing with fire but there are others thinking like me and agreeing with me. We can disagree on this, it’s fine, but I don’t hate kids, please.
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I don’t hate them either. I just hate them being around me. Ugh. And they only get worse when they grow up…
I’m probably coming at this from a similar (or different perspective) than you or others, but I do get fairly annoyed at places that just let kids run rampant as parents ignore them like it’s a backyard bbq. A public park actually is a good place for that too, but not every place in the park needs to be a designated free for all kids zone. Some people also want to have a place there to relax, unwind, etc. that is a little more quiet. I don’t think we’re being hostile or mean or unreasonable to feel that way.
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A new Scott Crawford joint potentially going in at Dix Park! Triangle Biz Journal reports: “And more is on the way. Crawford confirmed that he’s working on a “possible large project” at Dix Park, complete with a restaurant, cafe and private event space. He also has a letter of intent on another project in addition to weighing a hotel opportunity in Raleigh.” They also state the Crawford already has a partner for the project “That’s because Crawford has formed a joint venture company, Grove Bay Crawford JVC, with Miami-based Grove Bay Hospitality Group.” Are we thinking this will be going in the Brown Building next to Gipson Play Plaza? source: https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2026/07/09/scott-crawford-hospitality-raleigh-restaurants.html
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Yes I would guess the Brown building, as that was next in line for adaptive reuse and I was told it would be food hall/restaurant + event space. Gotta be it!
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I didn’t memorize the names of the random buildings there, but i looked it up and apparently it’s not the creepy asylum. When is something happening with that? I thought it was supposed to be a hotel also… I hope they paint it black.
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There are like 3 Lake Wheeler related topics lol. I love trees but it’s hard not to say that the trees along Lake Wheeler will certainly not be missed.
The development within and around the park will definitely set the stage for the downtown gateway to be the best area to live, work, and play 
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Just looked it up and that building is planned to be removed. Page 77 of this doc: https://dixpark.org/sites/default/files/2019-03/2019.03.18_DIX%20MASTER%20PLAN%20BOOK_web%20viewing_reduced%20size.pdf It was the Spruill Building for the criminally insane. Don’t know if folks would want to spend a night in that building…
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Some would… We always want something unique to bring in visitors… 
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I once had a summer job delivering housekeeping supplies to every floor and hallway of that building roughly 20 years ago. The floors were divided by degrees of insanity, the stuff I saw would blow your mind.
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Wow! I didn’t even know that the hospital was operational just 20 years ago. Thank you for sharing your story.
The older buildings that are all boarded up and not under obvious redevelopment are indeed creepy. I took out of town guests to Dixi over the weekend for the sunflowers and downtown views, and they were really impressed. I told them about the legacy going back to the psyche hospital for the state with (as others have said) a lot of crazy scary things people experienced there over 100 years.
Got me thinking it could be a cool attraction that I fear would have too many people calling it insensitive, but Dix could lean into it’s “scary” legacy and have perhaps a "haunted asylum attraction during Halloween season. Maybe even year round if it wasn’t protested out of existence haha. It could even be part of a small amusement area that could serve as a missing downtown Raleigh “attraction.” There’s been ideas here talked about an observation tower at Dix but it could also be a large skywheel (they’re ubiquitous in so many city downtowns that maybe it’s not worth it).
I honestly don’t know how you do a scary psych hospital attraction in a politcally correct way, but are we overlooking an obvious opportunity here? Heck there’s plenty of buildings that could be of interest to open a Spirit of Halloween store in one up on the hill
But seriously, you could have it be a family destination too, near enough but separate from the new playground. Would be fantastic if the train tracks in the park could be used shuttle people downtown every 30 minutes or so, too. But unfortunately where they come through the park is not an area that is very helpful to collect or drop off people. There’s nothing really close to the tracks inside the Park that anyone would want to be near since it’s more of a boundary.
Loved all the hammocks in the forest down by the sunflowers. Lots of people lounging in them.
just some thought. after a fund outing to dix this weekend.
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Yea, IMO this would be in extremely poor taste. I get the idea to create an attraction, but as a family member of someone who spent time at Dix in the 50s, I’m just not a fan. Horrible things happened there to people who didn’t and couldn’t understand why they were even there in the first place. This is just really inappropriate.
I think DIX Park is great, but IMO all the buildings associated with the former hospital should be torn down.
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Yeah that’s the thing. I’m all for tasteless jokes and dark humor, but I can’t see this actually being a viable thing. My suggestion was (obviously, I hope) in jest.
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A museum of Dix as an institution could be interesting, and provoke folks to think about the best and most human way to treat those who suffer from serious mental health issues. Dix was a true reformer, I believe she was the first woman to ever address the state assembly, in an era when women rarely if ever spoke before male or mixed audiences. Initially it was state of the art care, for the 1850s - it would be interesting to see how attitudes and care changed - as the wiki article suggests - from that period, through to the push for deinstutionalization. It is not a pretty history, but I think it could done with sympathy and be educational. Again, it could also spark discussion about what can be done to help since clearly our present system of really doing nothing is not working. This certainly circles back to the Moore Sq discussion.
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Burning coal theater out on a play in this or similar spot a few years ago. I’m not sure why. It was about Galileo.