AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Nash Square has evolved significantly since its creation over 200 years ago, and city parks officials are eyeing another new design.
Read more ‘An ironic inversion.’ Feds say Duke med school discriminated against whites
There’s a lot that’s going to change about the square, said city planning supervisor T.J. McCourt at a Raleigh City Council meeting Tuesday.
That will include opening up the corners of the park with paths, adding new pedestrian crossings to the under-construction city municipal building across the street and expanding the circular central path in the middle of the park.
But one thing will stay mostly the same.
“To every extent possible, we’re going to protect the historic oak and Willow canopies that really identify Nash Square in people’s minds,” McCourt said.
The city doesn’t have cost estimates for the potential updates to the park yet, but McCourt said he will come back to the council early next year for an update.
The new plans involve adding tree-filled islands to West Hargett Street between the municipal building and the park.
They also involve expanding the edge of the park, which will result in a narrower Hargett Street in that area.
The city is also looking at “reclaiming” vehicle parking spaces for pedestrians on the other adjacent streets to the square, McCourt said.
Council member Mitchell Silver said that the additions around Hargett Street are a “great solution, blending and making that more of a presence to complement the new city hall.”
The new city municipal building — adjacent to the current city offices — is around 80% complete, according to the city website. It’s projected to open around the spring of 2027.
Opening up the corner spaces and widening pedestrian paths and areas will make the area feel more open and safe, McCourt said.
“It’s a way to introduce both new patterns of circulation,” he said. “A lot more options for people as they’re walking through the square. You’re not going to feel quite so constrained with the current benches along the pathways as they’re laid out now.”
Read more Beloved restaurant is closing in Durham. Here’s how its food will live on
There will be more seating across the different parts of the square, McCourt outlined.
Silver — at one point the New York City Parks commissioner — said that he would like to investigate “lifting up” the lower parts of the tree canopy in the square.
The lower parts of the canopy could be transplanted so the foliage is higher off the ground, he said.
“Even walking by there today, I just cannot see in there,” Silver said. “It’s just an obstruction, which is one of the principles that crime prevention through environmental design tries to solve.”
McCourt said the city is working on that idea.
In the center of the square sits the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial. A low brick wall traces the surrounding area.
The city is looking at removing the wall, expanding the central plaza and adding more seating as well as shade, McCourt said.
Silver asked if there were any conversations about moving the memorial somewhere else.
“Again, we value our firefighters,” he said. “It is a very emotional memorial, but as we look for the evolution, I just want to make sure that is on the table.”
McCourt said the square is a state-owned property that the city manages, so the city can’t make that decision on its own.
“I think whatever we bring forward as the final recommendation would ultimately be something that the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Foundation would be supportive of,” McCourt said.
Read more Teen girl went missing 49 years ago. Her remains were finally identified in NC
This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 12:24 PM.