Get ready to play big! The City of Raleigh will open the Gipson Play Plaza, a one-of-a-kind destination attraction, at Dix Park with a series of events over the weekend of June 6 through June 8. A festive ribbon cutting will be held June 6 starting at 4 p.m.
The 18.5-acre play plaza features a dazzling variety of playgrounds and gathering spaces for all ages, including climbing towers, a sensory maze, a waterfall wall, welcoming areas for festivals and performances, a picnic grove, a swing terrace, and more.
“Gipson Play Plaza is a generational addition to all the things that make Raleigh a great place to live, work and certainly play,” noted Mayor Janet Cowell. “We look forward to seeing even more great things at Dix Park.”
Designed by world-renowned landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, the play plaza serves as a welcoming entrance to the 308-acre Dix Park from Lake Wheeler Road. A recently announced grab-and-go market at the historic House of Many Porches will make it easy for visitors to fuel up for adventure.
"The opening of Gipson Play Plaza at Dix Park is a transformative addition to Raleigh’s parks system, creating an exciting new space for families and visitors while reinforcing our vision for a central park,” said City of Raleigh Parks Director Stephen Bentley. “This project, alongside recent and future investments at John Chavis Memorial Park and our award-winning greenway system, showcases our commitment to vibrant, inclusive public spaces and public health. These investments are shaping the future of our city, offering new opportunities for play, connection, and community. We are proud to see Raleigh’s parks evolve as places where everyone can gather, explore, and thrive."
The play plaza is made possible by both public and private dollars including the 2022 Parks Bond, which more than 73 percent of Raleigh voters approved to fund projects at more than 20 parks and greenways across the city, and generous donations to the Dix Park Conservancy including a lead gift of $10M from Pat and Tom Gipson.
“Dix Park strives to be a world-class destination and welcoming environment for all, and Gipson Play Plaza is a fantastic and important step towards meeting that goal. There is nothing in our area quite like Gipson Play Plaza, and we look forward to welcoming people from places near and far, who will then go on to discover other amazing Dix Park features,” said Ruffin Hall, president and CEO of Dix Park Conservancy. “For all this, we thank Pat and Tom Gipson, the City of Raleigh and the many others who have or will contribute to realizing the Park’s full potential.”
The grand opening weekend will include:
- A ribbon cutting ceremony featuring key figures in Play Plaza’s development on June 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.;
- Two-day community celebration on June 7 and 8, 9am-10pm, featuring live music, family activities, roving entertainment, food trucks, an immersive light experience at night, and more; and,
- The schedule of events can be found here. More details coming soon.
Construction of the play plaza kicked off in October of 2022. To see photos and learn more about the play plaza, click here. For renderings of the House of Many Porches Market, please click here. For images of Dix Park, please click here.
