How much should it cost to maintain Dorothea Dix Park? Let’s look at Raleigh Park System for guidance:
- Raleigh Parks total 10,000 acres
- 200 Parks
- $50 Million to operate and maintain the buildings and land.
- Approximately $5000 per acre
- Dix Park 308 acres
- Should be about $1,6 Million to maintain just a few buildings and the land.
- Dix park represents 3% of the area of the Raleigh park system
Dix doesn’t need as many buildings as the plan calls for. They are both expensive to restore and maintain. Here is a breakdown of the plans from the Master Plan.
| Total existing buildings | 85 buildings | ||
| Total existing floor area | 1,171,818 sq ft | 26.9 acres | |
| Total existing footprint | 679,790 sq ft | 15.6 acres | |
| Buildings to be removed | 53 | 64% of buildings | |
| Floor area to be removed | 478,328 sq ft | 41% of existing floor area | 10.98 acres |
| Footprint to be removed | 331,521 sq ft | 49% of existing footprint | 7.61 acres |
| Buildings preserved | 32 | 37% of existing buildings | |
| Floor area preserved | 693,490 sq ft | 59% of existing floor area | 15.92 acres |
| Footprint preserved | 348,269 sq ft | 51% of existing footprint | 7.99 acres |
| Buildings and surrounding lawns preserved | 1,602,178 sq ft | 12% of 308 acres | 36.78 acres |
