Ahh, I missed that. That’s too bad… It’s a cool name. Can we change it to Cuervo Meadow or something else that achieves that same phonetic quality. Devereux meadow rolls off the tongue sweetly
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Or go in another direction and call it the “Blanche Devereaux Meadow”. She’s saucy but fun.
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I submitted Capital Meadow.
A park named after little ole me? Big Daddy would be so proud!
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Did anyone attend the open house yesterday at Halifax? Was wondering if there was any new information.
Friendly reminder: the City’s asking for your thoughts on the proposed park, but the survey closes this Friday! The N&O picked up this beat, too, if you want to read their article on this.
https://publicinput.com/DevereuxMeadowParkConcept
Since it’s been a month since this was released, we can start to get an idea of how other responders outside of this website see this park (click for screenshots):
Other people want this park to be unique from other urban parks -as a quiet places to relax and socialize, instead of another event space or hub for food trucks.
In response to the question Would you like to see more large-scale social gathering spaces (i.e. plazas) or more individual and small group spaces for relaxation?
In response to the question Would you like to see more informal, nature park-focused elements (wetland trails and overlook, stream restoration) or more formal, urban park-focused spaces with built elements (plazas, history walk)?
And then there was this comment:
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*RDC’s property is zoned to permit 12-story buildings, Carter said. He was unsure if the company would petition for a change, but he expects it will erect high-rises.
“There will be a mix of uses,” he said. “Certainly we’ll have ground-level retail, and there may be some other other uses incorporated into the project. But we anticipate that it will be heavily residential.” Development planning has just begun, but RDC could break ground on its project by 2024.*
Read more at: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article259300314.html#storylink=cpy
This plot of land is just north of Smoky Hollow across Peace Street.
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“A meadow in Raleigh, in the former America Memorial Park”
For those that live in/near this project, or just are vested in the end result as a place for R&R, please consider emailing city council, specifically Stormie Forte. It seems she doesn’t support adding Devereux Meadows to the Park Bond. Given this park is in her district, I think it’s important she hear from as many people as possible, especially if you work/live in her district. Here’s a bit the Glenwood South Neighborhood Collaborative put in their recent newsletter.
Devereux Meadow Park in Jeopardy
The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department is currently working on a draft concept plan for Devereux Meadow Park. This proposed park would be located on 14 acres north of Peace Street between Capital Boulevard and N. West Street.
This land is currently covered by a city-owned, surface parking lot. It is situated at the gateway to downtown Raleigh along the southbound Capital Boulevard corridor. It would also be the closest available park and greenspace to the densely populated Glenwood South neighborhood. The park would also provide a vital transportation link between the downtown bike lanes that currently end at Peace Street and greenways leading to neighborhoods in North Raleigh, as well as greenway connections south of downtown. While there are ongoing concept studies, there have been no funds allocated for the construction of this park. Devereux Meadow Park was not included on the previous parks bond referendum in 2014 and is in grave danger of not being included on the next parks bond referendum unless we can get City Council support for including this park in this year’s bond. Given that Parks Bonds do not happen every election cycle, this means the park could remain unfunded for a number of years to come. With recent and upcoming rezoning requests likely to add density to Glenwood South, making this the densest urban area in Raleigh, there is needed support for creating the first greenspace and City Park in our neighborhood, as well as a new signature gateway to downtown Raleigh.
Please let your Raleigh City Council members know that you support funding for Devereux Meadow Park and want it included on the next Parks Bond Referendum. Members to contact include: District D (which includes Glenwood South) Councilor, Stormie Forte Stormie.Forte@raleighnc.gov, Mayor, Mary Ann Baldwin Mary-Ann.Baldwin@raleighnc.gov, At-Large Councilors, Jonathan Melton Jonathan.Melton@raleighnc.gov, Nicole Stewart Nicole.Stewart@raleighnc.gov, and other Councilors, Corey Branch Corey.Branch@raleighnc.gov, Patrick Buffkin Patrick.Buffkin@raleighnc.gov, David Cox David.Cox@raleighnc.gov, and David Knight David.Knight@raleighnc.gov.
If you would like to join others concerned about the funding and construction of Devereux Meadow Park, contact us at GSNCboard@gmail.com.
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Why on earth would she be against more money being spent in her district?
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You might have better luck if you ask in the City Council thread. Stormie Forte seems to hold her cards close to her chest so it’s very difficult to figure out where she’s coming from, in general.
She rarely ever speaks up (at least in major planning-related deliberations) and doesn’t have much of an online paper trail in terms of her positions. If you remember from the Downtown South rezoning case, everyone was holding their breaths for her thoughts and vote since she didn’t even show signs of voting in favor of it until the last second (and the only sign to predict that was her insistence on Kane Realty committing to certain community benefits). Even her biggest platform, her weekly radio talk show, doesn’t really involve her going much into politics.
Is it too late to bring back Saige Martin? 
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This is frustrating. Any idea what her reasoning is?
Right, makes absolutely zero sense. Park funding is like a no-brainer political win, every time lmao
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All due respect to her as my district councilor, I really don’t understand why she was selected to replace Martin. She’s been on the council long enough that I should have some idea of what she cares about, but I have absolutely none. Like is she just not keen on the role, or is she actually working hard behind the scenes and just keeping it under wraps? And if she is doing stuff behind the scenes, even if she’s making decisions I personally agree with, the lack of transparency makes me not want to reelect her when the time comes.
You’re a public figure. I should know what you’re about. That’s the job.
Sorry for straying further off topic, but this has been bugging me for a while, so I’m glad someone else said it.
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Sounds like…
US Senator Kyrsten Sinema 
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No, this is different. At least with Sinema, you can see some things like her stock investments or campaign donors (e.g. how actual pyramid schemes donate to her). We don’t know what she stands for, but we have some data, at least, about who has power over her and who has the potential to grab her attention.
With Forte, we can’t even make that sort of conclusion. We have no solid information on anything about her as a politician. It does seem like she talks to some local residents or community/neighborhood organizations (how else would the Glenwood South Neighborhood Collaborative learned about this in the first place?); it’s just so low-key that it hasn’t made it onto the internet.
I guess the flip side of this situation is that, although we have no reason to trust her, we also aren’t away of any reason to assume she’d act in bad faith. This email doesn’t make it clear if Forte is against the park’s concept itself or if she’s only against its inclusion in the parks bond, either.
With the little we know about her, I’d guess that Forte:
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may listen to voices of diverse perspectives (or at least, we have no reason to affirm otherwise)
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may prefer opinions of people working or living in her district, as @OakCityDylan said. She may especially be attentive to you if you’d become a close neighbor to the future park
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may be aware of her status as the first Black female queer councilmember, so she may be more receptive to discussions through lived experiences like hers
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I don’t think GSNC heard from her.
How did they end up writing that whole newsletter? Even if GSNC didn’t hear it from her directly, this means they had to find out through the grapevines somehow, right?