Dorothea Dix Park Master Plan
MVVA is leading the transformation of the former Dorothea Dix Hospital campus, a 308-acre site in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, into Dorothea Dix Park. The site includes mature oak trees, rolling topography, over 80 buildings in various conditions, a former municipal landfill, and the degraded stream corridor of the Rocky Branch Creek. The history of the site led to the creation of six distinct but interconnected landscapes which also reflected the range of landscape types found throughout the region: the Creek, the Grove, the Meadow, the Gateway, the Ridge, and the Valley. Each landscape is informed by historical research, ecological analysis, and the potential of the land. Altogether, the six landscapes create a park offering something for everyone.
THE LAND
The history of the site led to the creation of six distinct but interconnected landscapes: the Creek, the Grove, the Meadow, the Gateway, the Ridge and the Valley.
THE FRAMEWORK
The organizing structure of a park, including the organization of entries and edges, the placement of paths and roads, and the relationship of indoor to outdoor spaces.
THE PROGRAM
The collection of uses and activities planned for the park. Themes were based on community feedback to ensure that the park offers something for everyone.
IMPLEMENTATION
How these ideas can be realized. The park’s transformation is divided into four phases, and operations and maintenance, funding, and partnerships are analyzed.
MVVA’s Master Plan, approved by Raleigh City Council in February 2019, preserves the site’s historic features and core character while integrating it with its surroundings to create an immersive, welcoming, and unforgettable park-wide experience. There are countless specifics and details that continue to be investigated and decided upon in the next phases of work, including designs for individual projects, funding plans, and partnership agreements.
In addition to defining an organizing structure for the park, design focus areas included main entrances, enhanced edges, choreography of multi-modal paths and roads, creating new relationships between indoor and outdoor spaces, and diversifying a collection of uses and activities planned for the park.
The entire process was based on community feedback, operations and maintenance capacities, funding, and partnerships. Several stakeholder groups were convened to guide the development of the Plan, which compiles and synthesizes feedback received throughout an 18-month community engagement process. It was ultimately one of the most comprehensive and thorough outreach and engagement efforts in the City’s history, with over 65,000 area residents participating.
