John Chavis Memorial Park #DiscoverRaleighParks

Last week after we visited the Walnut Creek Wetlands I realized how close we were to Chavis Park so we drove around the corner and stopped by our 5th stop on our Discover Raleigh Parks tour. I’d been to Chavis Park many years ago in the early 90’s well before they renovated in 2011. It was much different than I remember. It is a beautiful park with a lovely historic carousel.

We started in the community center which was buzzing with an activity where we got our passport stamps. We didn’t stay long because there were a good number of people coming and going from the building and we didn’t want to be in the way.

So we headed back outside where we stopped at the “Glimpses of the Promised Land” sculpture which was created by Mike Roig in 2006. It’s a beautiful sculpture of abstract flocks of birds that twirl in the wind. The sculpture is inspired by the words or Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It is made from recycled steel beams, stainless steel hospital trays and an old truck axle. Roig says that the sculpture was inspired by the Tuskegee Airmen.

Then we stopped at the Historic Allan Herschell Carousel which has been in the park since the 1930’s. It is a gorgeous carousel which was recently restored and is now indoors. Originally the carousel was built for African-American residents in segregated Raleigh when they were only allowed limited access to Pullen Park.

We walked past the pool area and wished we had our swimsuits as it was a pretty hot day. Then the boys played on the playground and made some new friends.

We enjoyed our visit to Chavis Park and will certainly visit again.