It would have to be privately funded entirely (maybe City/Regional funding) because A) you will never get this republican dominated legislature to help Raleigh & B) the coastal communities where there are already aquariums will lose their minds…(See reason A for what happens next).
I have maintained the stance since the beginning of the Dix Park Plans that I think it would be cool to split it into thirds. 100 acre park, 100 acres for Aquarium, small city zoo, some sort of college basketball museum, etc and 100 acre to develop. That is such valuable piece of property I’ve just never understood the need to have all 300 acres as a park. Especially considering there is a 66 acre park literally across the street, Moore Square, Nash Square and Umstead a few miles down the road. I know I’m in the minority here.
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Some locally-inspired museum ideas:
College basketball
Pirates
Aviation
BBQ
Gaming
Bioscience
Trees/forestry
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As long as it comes with samples, I’m all in on this one!
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The canal has been refilled following years-long restoration work on several locks. There’s a longer-term plan to rebuild some of the plazas with more attractions, and to further encourage retail fronting the canal.
The canal’s a good example of a man-made watercourse. That would be one (incredibly expensive) way of creating an urban, hard-edged waterfront that’s exempt from the state’s river-buffer rules.
Aquariums were kind of a fad in the '80s, beginning with Baltimore and Monterey, partly because they draw crowds and have a small, urban footprint. The idea of expanding the NC Aquarium inland has been floated before, but the three existing coastal aquariums are better and more topical than anything that could be done inland.
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A canal, you say? Maybe that’s the change we need on Fayetteville St… 
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I like your thinking my friend, so what do you think Raleigh can add that is different?
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A geology museum. Dig a 500’ deep shaft straight into the earth.
I really think the best opportunity we have is to integrate the downtown parks and Greenway system into a world class urban outdoor facility. Dix park obviously would be the crown jewel, but the Greenways from there could connect to Pullen, Chavis, Devereux, Moore, Nash… And have a common way finding theme between them all. Digital signs that show the calendar of events for the day at all the parks within each park
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A modern version of Boston’s Emerald Necklace or Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks system. I like it!
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300 is less than half of NYC Central Park and less than a third of Golden Gate Park. We are not a city as big, but it is important to at least save the land for the future when at least some point it gets as big. Umstead is a ways out from Dix and again NYC also has Prospect Park and Corona Park. There’s nothing wrong with having a couple of big parks.
I am 100% with you om the small zoo/aquarium. It beats driving 1.5-2 hours.
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It’s too bad Crabtree mall wasn’t built with the stores on the river instead of the parking decks.
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I imagine the primary concern would be flooding, but I’ve never even considered how much better that would look until your comment. Really hoping they actually do something like this at Midtown East like they’re saying they will.
Every time I talk about Greenville, SC, I tell folks they need to check out the river. My dad went there on a business trip a few years ago and asked me “why would I want to see a river?” It ended up being the highlight of his trip. I’d love to have something like that here.
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I agree that there is a need for green space, and the desire to preserve it. That’s why I like the idea of having 100 acres near our downtown to make into a beautiful park. I think we could turn what Dix park planners call the Grove, the Creek, Harvey Hills and the Playground into Dix Park and use the other 2/3 for something else that can attract people from all over. 100 acres is alot.
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A series of locks and dams on Crabtree Creek (from the old Kroger on 6Forks, to Atlantic Ave) could be implemented to create a “river”, much like was done in San Antonio. It would be very costly, and involve raising the bridges and surrounding floodplain. This can be done with correlation with NCDOT & DEQ. Even if the water level and associated flood plain was raised, a new, corresponding 50’ Riparian Buffer would be required, allowing only plants on either side of the stream. Any hardscape would be excluded from the buffer. Some entity with patience and DEEP pockets could make this happen.
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Then I mistook the “100 acres to develop”. I was thinking you meant apartments/offices/etc. I would want to keep all 300 acres a park and not turn 100 acres into a huge mixed-use development. I believe there’s mixed use developments already going next to the park. A open area with a few small restaurants would be fine. I think a paddling river like Golden Gate Parkway would be cool too but am not sure if that’s feasible.
Lassiter Mill park has a dam upriver. Do something similar and maybe add a nice pedestrian bridge across the river and it would be a really good place. Add some manicured garden/waterfront area, benches, and it would be a nice place to go sit and hear the water coming over the dam/falls. Not really original, but very nice and enjoyable.
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I was thinking that a few weeks ago, while sitting at a table outside Panera. In quiet moments, you can actually hear Crabtree Creek from there!
Or the “restaurant row” between Brio and Uncle Julio’s is just… on the wrong side of the parking garage. Just a bit further away, and the restaurants could’ve had back patio seats overlooking the creek.
Over in another thread, I mentioned how downtown Frederick, MD has a lovely new riverwalk made possible by diverting most of the flow into a tunnel:
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Has anyone heard anything about a skating rink downtown this year…
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Not recently. They tried to do it again a month or so after the first one, but they didn’t sell enough tickets. I personally didn’t see much marketing ahead of the second one until the week of the event, so I’m guessing people just didn’t know about it.
As an avid skater, I’d love to see an outdoor roller rink similar to the ice rink they used to do in the winter.
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Hold for news on this…
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