RALEIGH, N.C. – Community members took a final tour of the original John Chavis Memorial Park before the community center is torn down.

What You Need To Know

  • Original John Chavis Memorial Park community center is being demolished is a couple of weeks

  • Construction on the new two-story community center is scheduled to be done by Summer 2021

  • Community members who took a final tour keep with them a picture and brick from the original building

Demolition is planned in the next couple of weeks as a new community center is built next door. The City of Raleigh’s schedule anticipates construction on the new facility to be done by summer.

John Chavis Memorial Park was dedicated in 1938. It was built as a recreational spot for Black people in the area during segregation.

South Park — East Raleigh Neighborhood Association President Lonnette Williams grew up in Raleigh and spent plenty of time at the center.

“My daddy used to bring us over here to watch the Negro baseball league,” said Williams. “That was interesting. Then when I got older, I came to watch Shaw and St. Aug play.”

Carol Love, a Raleigh Parks and Recreation Advisory Board member, remembers coming to the baseball games in the ’60s during her college years.

Love and Williams say they have both been active in preserving and protecting the history of Chavis Memorial Park.

“We are so committed because we see this as our park, at a time when there was nothing else,” said Williams.

Records with the City of Raleigh date back to August 2012 with efforts to make improvements in Chavis Park. In May 2014, the city council unanimously approved a revised master plan for the center.

The new space will be a two-story building with a gym, fitness center, classrooms, and meeting spaces inside. There will also be renovations to the original carousel house.

Love said they want this center to last for generations.

“The reason we’re working so hard to preserve Chavis and to renovate it is because of people like our daughters,” said Love. “So that our grandchildren can build memories, come back to this park, and love what they see.”

For Williams and Love, it’s a bittersweet moment to see the old building go and the new one built. Williams says this is something elders in the community have looked forward to for a long time.

“The sad thing about it is there are so many we have lost along the way — who have passed on,” said Williams. “And they didn’t have a chance to see what we see now. It makes it a little sad for me.”

Love said she wants to make sure they are here to see it through.

“There are lots of other seniors that have helped make this happen,” said Love. “So, what we’re trying to do is make sure it’s finished so that we, our children, and our grandchildren can enjoy this for years to come.”