Freedom Park

North Carolina Freedom Park Breaks Ground In Raleigh

Raleigh, NC – Governor Roy Cooper joined the Freedom Park Foundation Board, N.C. Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Susi H. Hamilton, and other distinguished guests at a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday (Oct. 7) for North Carolina Freedom Park. The one-acre site will be the first park in North Carolina to honor the African American struggle for freedom, an experience that represents universal themes of freedom, perseverance, and equality. (Watch the groundbreaking ceremony below.)

Freedom Park
Freedom Park artist rendering (submitted)

Freedom Park will be at the corner of S. Wilmington and E. Lane Streets, prominently located between the State Legislative Building and the Governor’s Mansion, where 155 years ago former slaves celebrated their freedom. The park was designed by late architect Phil Freelon, who led the design of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.

Freelon’s son, Durham city councilman Pierce Freelon, said on his way over, he couldn’t help but think of his father and the contributions of Dr. John Hope Franklin, ” I feel both of their spirits here today, and it’s just an honor and a privilege to put this monument in our great state’s capitol. I’m feeling a great deal of pride. My dad did a lot of buildings across this country, but he loved North Carolina. This is where he started his business, he went to college just down the street from here at NC State University. So I know his spirit is with us today, and it’s a beautiful day for a groundbreaking.”

The target date for opening day in spring 2022 depends, in part, on closing the funding gap. About $32 million in state and private funding are pledged so far, and the groundbreaking ceremony’s considered by organizers as the kickoff of the public fundraising campaign.

Freedom Park
Gov. Roy Cooper speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new North Carolina Freedom Park, located between the NC State Legislative Building and the Governor’s Mansion, and designed by the late architect Phil Freelon. (submitted)

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper mentioned the state’s rich history among African Americans, which includes the Greensboro Four and Black Wall Street in Durham.

“I’m proud of the work that my administration is doing to address racial and economic disparities and to find solutions,” Cooper said. “And we’ll continue to do that necessary and important work and continue to have those hard conversations that need to be had. We know that this site will help to educate generations to come and provide a place to celebrate the history and the art and the communities that make us all who we are because diversity is indeed our strength.”

Freedom Park
A group of park board members, state officials, and family of the late architect Phil Freelon, ceremoniously break ground on the new North Carolina Freedom Park. (submitted)

The project was originally defunded when Cooper vetoed the state budget, Republican lawmakers noted, but the GOP-led general assembly revived the effort and passed a separate bill to fund the park.

State lawmakers approved more than a million dollars of support from North Carolina for the non-profit group building the park, and their fundraising efforts continue with about $3.2 million raised so far. A contribution of $100,000 from Duke Energy Foundation was announced at the groundbreaking.

The end of the ceremony featured lighting of The Beacon of Freedom–a sculpture in the middle of the park that features quotes about freedom from Black North Carolinians.

For more information on the Freedom Park, click here.