Many living on or around NC State’s campus may have heard of Dorothea Dix Park, located just off of NC State’s Centennial Campus. The park is constantly putting on all kinds of shows and events for the people of Raleigh. However, newcomers may not be aware that the park is actually a very recent installment in the city. The park’s land formerly belonged to Dorothea Dix Hospital, which closed its doors in 2010 after being open for over 150 years. In 2015, the land was purchased by the city of Raleigh, and over the last three years, the city has been planning big things for Dix Park. Now, they are ready to begin renovations, but there’s just one last group whose input they’re searching for: the college students of Raleigh.

Dorothea Dix Park: University Remix is an event taking place this Friday, Nov. 16, at 6 p.m. in the Transfer Co. Food Hall. The event is being held to generate feedback from university students about the plans for Dorothea Dix Park. University Remix is catered to the college crowd, complete with food, music, and exhibitions and performances by students from colleges all over the city, including Shaw University, William Peace University, Meredith College and NC State.

Caroline Lindquist, Dorothea Dix Park’s planning specialist, spoke about the open meetings which the park has held concerning the upcoming projects.

“Public meetings or community meetings or events aren’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing,” Lindquist said. “Normally with public meetings, they don’t generally draw many college-age students or young adults…. Not just on this project, but on public meetings in general, you don’t have a lot of college students show up.”

With Dorothea Dix Park sitting so close to NC State’s campus, Lindquist is hoping to get the input of current college students so that they will be able to have a say in the park’s development.

“The evolution of Dix Park, it’s a long-range project,” Lindquist said. “It’s a park today, but it’s a project for generations to come, as well. We want people who are going to be Raleigh’s future leaders and future citizens to get to have a say in what their city and their park will look like… because this is a park that, as they grow up, will be evolving with them, so we want to be sure that people of all ages get to have a say in this.”

The committee reached out to the Caldwell Fellows, a fellowship at NC State with a focus in serving the local community. It was those students who came up with the idea for the University Remix event.

Erica Lisowe, a second-year studying biological engineering and a Caldwell Fellow organizing the event, described it as “a party with a purpose.”

“We’re trying to make it a really fun experience,” Lisowe said. “Something that you would want to go to, you would want to come and learn more about Dorothea Dix Park, because this whole renovation process, this whole project that they’re planning is incredible.”

The Master Plan will be available for students to comment on freely, along with different concept art and renders of the proposed projects and even a virtual reality tour. According to Lindquist, students will also have the opportunity to suggest new events and spaces the park could create in the future which cater to their needs.

“We will have the overall Master Plan, the latest draft documents out that people can provide input on,” Lindquist said. “They can provide general input, but can also say, if there’s a space at their university, there’s something they’re realizing their organization always wants a space to have – meeting space, event space, outdoor concert space, something like that – we want them to be able to say, hey, this is a big need.”

Connor Smith, a second-year studying business administration and another Caldwell Fellow helping to plan the event, said that University Remix is more than either a survey or a fun time.

“What we are trying to do is an embodiment of what the park is going to be,” Smith said. “It’s a space where people of any demographic, of any background, can come together and have a say…. I know it’s been marketed as a party and such; well, that’s what learning about other people should feel like. The feeling that you feel at this event is going to be something that happens every day at Dorothea Dix Park, whenever this transformation is complete, 10 years down the line.”

Lindquist stressed that the event was designed fully by the students, who took the opportunity to place further emphasis on student performances and productions from the different colleges in attendance. Smith and Lisowe want to present the event as an opportunity for NC State students to interact with other campuses around the city.

“A lot of college, especially at NC State, I feel, is very confined within our borders, and it’s not often that you have something that will engage you in a community that’s outside of NC State,” Lisowe said. “When I go to Dorothea Dix Park, it’s such a relief for me to kind of get away, and I would love for other people to see this park as a possibility, as a place where they can get away from their college, as a place where they can connect with people from other colleges.”

Smith said that the other campuses are so close, and that he had accidentally discovered several of them while biking through Raleigh as a first-year.

“I feel like NC State kind of dominates the Raleigh scene, but we are not the only college population that lives in Raleigh,” Smith said. “I can’t imagine how many other NC State students aren’t aware of the communities around them that at least share the same age demographic with them.”

University Remix is an opportunity for college students to be active in their community and no longer be an underrepresented demographic. It is a chance for them to network and interact with other campuses and with the city, and broaden their horizons.

Both Lindquist and the Caldwell Fellows also want to ensure that students don’t forget the park or its illustrious history once they leave the event, either.

“I think it’s really cool to have the opportunity to bring together students from colleges throughout Raleigh,” Lindquist said. “I think it’s pretty rare that all these different students come together, and so I think that this event is a cool example of the potential of Dix park for bringing people together who might otherwise not be, and… helping college students see what an influence they really can have on the planning of our city, of our capital and the effect of our greater Triangle area. I hope that people will stay involved, and feel like their voice is heard and understand that it is a park for them.”

The event is completely free and open to all, but students are encouraged to RSVP on Eventbrite.