Devereux Meadow: Raleigh's old baseball stadium to become urban park, waterway in downtown
Devereux Meadow: Raleigh's old baseball stadium to become urban park, waterway in downtown
Posted — UpdatedThe new urban park will be built atop the Devereux Meadow site, sitting between Peace Street, West Street and Capital Boulevard.
Designs could preserve historic remnants of the baseball stadium
Several design options favored maintaining historic remnants of the stadium – as well as the popular stone aqueduct, which could be transformed into part of the park.
Several remnants of the baseball stadium are pinpointed in the design, such as the long stone wall that runs along the length of the historic Oak Allee. The wall was originally part of the bleachers and rest areas beneath the bleachers.
Concept number one featured a large lawn called 'The Outfield,' to preserve the memory of the baseball diamond. It also preserved the Oak Allee as a walkway through the park.
Concept number two featured restoring the stone wall and uncapped aqueduct.
Downtown Raleigh likely to have a major waterway and trails
Project leaders also discussed daylighting the Pigeon House Branch – for the first time in over a century, downtown Raleigh would have a sizable waterway flowing through it, just as it did in the 1800s.
Prior to the development of Devereux Meadow baseball stadium in the 1930s, the land was used as a public park. As far back as the 1800s, families would have church picnics in the field and walk along the Pigeon House Branch stream.
For the first time in more than a century, this site could be an open, natural park with a waterway once again.
Some design options favored keeping the antique stone aqueduct as part of the decor, using the the space as a bioretention garden full of plants and foliage.
Public art and gathering lawns for pop-up events
There are multiple potential concepts for the park. It could be a nature oasis in the middle of the city – with nature trails and grassy spaces, quiet places for contemplation with nature and a calm stream bubbling through.
It could also be a bustling gathering place, featuring pop-up events, handmade markets and live music. With an art lawn and a gathering terrace overlook, the space could be filled with large sculptures in open grassy areas.
Explore remnants of the old Devereux Meadow baseball field, bleachers
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