The Raleigh City Council voted unanimously to pursue buying the Dorothea Dix property after the hospital closes next year. City Manager Russell Allen and City Attorney Thomas McCormick presented an action plan outlining the financing and potential uses.

Expected to cost somewhere around $40 million, the money is slated to come from from city bonds and private donations. Proposed uses include:

• Create a 200-acre park with a man-made pond
• Create a memorial to Dorothea Dix, founder of the hospital
• Create a residential neighborhood around the proposed park
• Create a retail center around the State Farmer’s Market area
• Create a mixed-use neighborhood on property that is now the Farmer’s Market and on land that is part of N.C. State University’s Centennial Campus
• Accommodate a campus for the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services
• Preserve existing oak trees
• Accommodate passive recreation, amphitheater and possibly botanical gardens
• Create new greenway links and maximize access to adjacent surrounding neighborhoods
• Accommodate congregate housing for the mentally ill on the Dix site
• Read more from the City of Raleigh

The question facing Dix's future is whether property overlooking our city will be sold to the highest bidder or will the public retain control and use? I am not a big fan of local government handling land development, but the city of Raleigh and local residents have a lot to gain or lose with the property's future. I can't help but think of Central Park in NYC. A park and proper surrounding development will profit us all and not just an exclusive view.

I encourage you to visit the Friends of Dorothea Dix Park website and take advantage of the information they offer. They show the current view and speculative views both with and without a park 40 some years in the future.