The John Chavis Memorial Park sat among Southeastern Raleigh’s citizens for about 75 years as a relic of the past and a vessel for the future. 

The park, located off of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, provided a recreational area for African-Americans in the Triangle and far elsewhere at the tail end of the Jim Crow era. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, the park fell into a state of disrepair and disuse, according to David Shouse, senior park planner for the City of Raleigh.

Members of the Chavis Park Community Conversation trying to revitalize the park by holding discussions about how to best implement its restoration, and the Chavis Community Center will hold a public forum to review the draft of the master plan in December.

The history

The Raleigh Board of Commissioners officially named the park John Chavis Memorial Park in 1938 after African-American educator, patriot and preacher John Chavis.

The Works Progress Administration established the park as a parallel to nearby Pullen Park, the park white citizens used for recreation. However, the goal of “separate but equal” parks may not have been fully realized.

“The two parks never were and never will be completely equal, but people still draw comparisons and it doesn’t allow some to see the larger picture of the entire City of Raleigh Park System and the way we provide activities and services,” Shouse said.

The City of Raleigh received the 66-acre Pullen Park as a gift in 1887, according to Shouse. Like the 29-acre Chavis Park, it had a swimming pool, carousel and community center, but Pullen Park was twice as big.

Though unequal, Chavis Park was the only park for African-Americans in the South, according to Gretchel Carter, a member of the Public Leadership Group for the Chavis Park Community Conversation.

“It was like a regional park. People spent hours there and drove thousands and thousands of miles,” Carter said. “There was no walking space.”

Famous singer Cab Calloway even had his photograph taken at the park’s pool in the 1930s, and literal busloads—often from churches—headed to the park regularly, especially on weekends when picnics were common, Carter said.

Chavis was built on the edge of town, and the community grew up around the park, not the other way around, according to Shouse.

“It was literally people’s backyard,” Shouse said.

In 1941, the WPA program ended, and the City of Raleigh began managing the park, which created a change in management and a movement to a “combined park system,” according to Shouse.

Carter said the park hosted “Teenage Frolics,” which allowed her and others to show off their “soul train” dance moves. It moved to WRAL as a regular televised program hosted by J.D. Lewis in 1958 and ended in 1983.

The Professional Negro Basketball League played at the park, as well as the Shaw University football team, according to Carter.

The Chavis slump

Shouse said he attributes Chavis’ decline to the end of the Civil Rights Movement’s era, a time when the park was often the site of gatherings, including the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, which began in 1960 at Shaw University.

“People felt like they could come and get together and honor their personal interests and felt safe to assemble there,” Shouse said. “Chavis has that as part of its history.” 

The 1964 Civil Rights Act then brought a new era to the park.

“Separate but equal all had to change, not just changes in parks and recreation. Ot was a social phenomenon. It affected every public institution,” Shouse said.

Carter said she blames Chavis’ decline due to a change in the landscape.

“The train was taken away in the early 1970s, and people complained about [its removal] for several decades,” Carter said. “The swimming pool was changed from an Olympic-size pool to a smaller size.”

The infrastructure of Downtown Raleigh changed as well. The streets were previously reserved only to pedestrians.

“Belk was the main department store and when that closed, everything died,” Carter said. “Downtown Raleigh became a ghost town and more and more businesses moved.”

Pushing forward

When Cecilia Zuvic, another member of the PLG, moved to Southeast Raleigh six years ago, she said she didn’t know Chavis Park existed.

However, she said she used to be a runner and learned to make use of the park’s track.

“Because of the track, I started running again and can do five miles now,” Zuvic said. “I used to go with my mom, but she has passed away. That made the park very close to me.”

Zuvic said she still remembers her mom dancing in the park, and now she works to fight the misconceptions surrounding the recreation space.

“People said, ‘How are you going there, it’s dangerous.’” Zuvic said. “I told them, ‘it’s not dangerous, it’s beautiful.’” 

Zuvic said the key to changing the public’s conceptions of the park primarily involves awareness that it exists. That belief became a reality with the park’s recent 75th anniversary celebration.

“The 75th anniversary was amazing. It was packed, and I cried,” Zuvic said. “This is it, this is how it’s supposed to be, all of these people coming to the park.”

PLG Member Jackee Howell has only lived in the area for two and a half years but fell in love with the spirit of the park after looking for a place to swim due to its proximity to Downtown Raleigh. 

“With new effort in the surrounding areas to revitalize it, I think it has made the park feel safer and people can really see the potential.” Howell said. “The community surrounding the park has changed, so more people are discovering the park going who haven’t visited it before.”

Proposed changes to the park include a “bundled” (indoor and outdoor) aquatic center, the repurposing of the community center and making John Chavis Memorial Park a preferred location for Downtown Raleigh events and festivals, according to Howell. The group is also looking to use a creek, trees and green space to bring out the “natural elements” of the park.

Additionally, the work by the citizen PLG in the Chavis Conversation project proposes a complete renovation to the play areas of the park to bring about a “wow” factor, according to Shouse.

“I would like to see it as a point of union for everyone in the community where they feel secure,” Zuvic said.

The key to the park’s future success, according to Shouse, depends on honoring its past while also making room to plan for the future.

A 1994 master plan recommended moving the carousel, one of the key features of the park, to a more visible location, but more comprehensive plans are underway, according to Shouse.

“The relocation of the carousel drew negative reactions from people who remembered that carousel, and it took years for city council to approve,” Shouse said.

The carousel, purchased by the city from Allan Herschell Company in 1937, is one of the highlights of the park, and features 36 hand-carved wooden horses, according to the South Park East Raleigh Neighborhood Association.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous especially at night, all lit up with the backdrop of the Downtown Raleigh skyline,” Howell said.