New thread.
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Oh that’s embarrassing 
thanks. I’m surprised the “this URL has already been posted in another thread” warning didn’t come up…
Found an image from 1960 showing the Devereux Meadows site, including the old baseball field:
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The annual Wake Forest - NC State baseball game was played at Devereux Meadows on Easter Monday. Easter Monday was a state holiday for decades to celebrate the rivalry between the two Wake County colleges. Wake Forest moved to Winston Salem in 1955, enticed by big tobacco money.
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The future Devereux Park’s final concept design is underway! This Thursday, the Parks, Recreations, and Greenways Advisory Board will hear an update about that project. The feedback that city staff get then will pave the way for a concept plan review in February-March followed by detailed schematic designs this Summer and Fall.
"To refresh y'all's memories... (click here")
Last summer, we saw three concept sketches for how Devereux Park could be laid out, based on just how much we should emphasize greenway connections and restore the Pigeon House Branch. It turns out that a ton of people liked the idea of having a “downtown oasis” gathering space through this park. Out of the three options we had, the one where the creek is realigned and fully daylighted was, by far, the most popular:
The city, then, took our feedback from last summer and came up with more detailed concepts! Here’s what they will discuss (and, next month, ask for our thoughts on):
This new design daylights the entire creek (while avoiding the most contaminated parts of the park site), sets aside wetlands to make the park more resilient against floods, and creates larger spaces for people to hang out in. (It almost feels like the hybrid option I suggested back then, too haha)
Note that the black dashed lines to the north are where the SEHSR viaduct will be built on above the park.
More about these features...
The idea of this design seems to be lean in on the aquatic features, iconic natural vistas, and gathering spaces that people asked for the most in last summer’s survey. This means the above features will provide vibes that look like this:
This park will have two main plazas, large spaces where people could gather and hang out, host events etc.: one along Peace St. to the south, and another along West St. to the west. Here’s where they are, exactly, with square footages compared against other meeting spaces in downtown Raleigh:
Of course, greenways and nature trails will be baked into the design of this park:
Click here for cross-sections of this park.
Just south of the central plaza:
Just north of the plaza (notice the different plant types, which will showcase different mini-climates in different parts of the park):
Where the high-speed rail line will pass over the park:
Our city’s parks bond from 2014 has paid for most ($2M out of $2.9M) of this design process. However, we’ll have to get more money through another parks bond (which is under discussion now) to pay for environmental remediation ($1.2M) and construction ($13.4M).
The city’s stormwater department is willing to pitch in to part of it, so at least we have that going for us! The presentations’ briefing sheet has more details about the weeds, if you want to learn more.
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Thanks for sharing!
I can’t help but wonder if the wetlands overlook is going to be a mosquito factory.
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That’s honestly all I needed to hear. I’m on board, now let’s get building! 
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ahem They should just use a better alignment for SEHSR (without the squiggles), which allows for much faster speeds, and will almost entirely avoid impacts.
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Ferris wheel, ice skating rink, merry go round, public pool, beer garden, food trucks and open mic music stage, not this.
Just received an email from the City announcing that draft concept plan for Devereux Meadow Park goes live next Monday (Feb 7th). You can view the announcement here, but I’ll drop it below as well.
We want to hear from you! Please share your feedback on the Devereux Meadow Park draft concept plan.
The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department is in the concept design phase for the proposed Devereux Meadow Park. This new urban park location is north of downtown Raleigh, near the intersection of Capital Boulevard and Peace Street. Starting on February 7, 2022, the public is invited to review the draft concept plans.
The proposed Devereux Meadow Park is envisioned as a passive park with pathways and trails, gathering spaces, natural areas, and opportunities for public art and environmental and historical interpretation of the site. A key part of the proposed park design is the restoration of Pigeon House Branch, a stream currently in a straight, urbanized channel along West Street.
On February 7th, Raleigh Parks will post project videos and a public survey on the project website. At your convenience until March 9th, all are invited to view the videos and take our survey.
An open house will take place on Saturday, February 12th, 10 am - 2 pm at Halifax Park, 1023 Halifax St., Raleigh. Raleigh Parks staff and project consultants will be on hand to review the draft concept plan, answer questions, and take comments. The open house will be an outdoor event near the community center.
Project information. Project videos and survey will be available on the website starting February 7th.
Visit Raleigh Parks COVID-19 page for the latest information and guidance.
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Got this in my email
The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department is in the concept design phase for the proposed Devereux Meadow Park. This new urban park location is north of downtown Raleigh, near the intersection of Capital Boulevard and Peace Street. Starting on February 7, 2022, the public is invited to review the draft concept plans.
The proposed Devereux Meadow Park is envisioned as a passive park with pathways and trails, gathering spaces, natural areas, and opportunities for public art and environmental and historical interpretation of the site. A key part of the proposed park design is the restoration of Pigeon House Branch, a stream currently in a straight, urbanized channel along West Street.
On February 7th, Raleigh Parks will post project videos and a public survey on the project website. At your convenience until March 9th, all are invited to view the videos and take our survey.
An open house will take place on Saturday, February 12th, 10am - 2pm at Halifax Park, 1023 Halifax St., Raleigh. Raleigh Parks staff and project consultants will be on hand to review the draft concept plan, answer questions, and take comments. The open house will be an outdoor eventnear the community center.
For project information, please go to: Devereux Meadow Project | Raleighnc.gov. Project videos and survey will be available on the website starting February 7th.
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Update: don’t think these are supposed to be accessible yet, but I found them on Raleigh’s public input site.
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I noticed the property immediately adjacent to the park at the SW corner went up for sale last week and had a pending offer almost immediately. Huge opportunity to redevelop it into something that really takes advantage of the new park.
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Look like they are just using Zillow as an ad for the ongoing public auction of this property? So the “pending offer” must just be one of the bids?
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I hope they add a bicycle or pedestrian railroad crossing (at grade is fine) on Washington or Cleveland, because this project really suffers from a lack of accessibility on three sides.
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It would likely need to be a tunnel (I think tunnel would be way easier here)
FRA is highly against adding new at grade crossings whenever possible. Especially if they involve pedestrians.
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Which brings us to a major problem with infrastructure here, the reality is that this is a low traffic line and a well designed at grade crossing would be perfectly safe, at least until the line is reconstructed and realigned for the SEHSR project; but alas federal regulations. I view this similarly to the previous federal requirements for passenger trains to be built like rolling bank vaults.
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I’ve said it before, but the SEHSR route should be built as a mile-long viaduct all the way from Jones Street to Wade Avenue. And it should be built wide enough (four tracks!) to run freight tracks over it as well. That allows permeability. Literally every street could connect through, and West Street could rejoin the grid.
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That would be game changing for that area. I mean, totally different. I’ve always liked this idea, though I like most of your ideas. 
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