Raleigh City Council members reviewed three possible playground designs for Moore Square at a retreat on September 19, with a net-like, wavy structure called Ground Discovery drawing the most support. The proposed play area would replace the large community tables currently sitting in the square's southwest corner, next to South Blount Street, and could cost up to $1.8 million depending on which design moves forward.
The push to reimagine that corner of the park comes as city leaders look for ways to draw more families downtown. According to the News & Observer, city staffer Stephen Bentley told council members the community tables currently in that spot are not being used as intended, and that people have instead been using them to store belongings. All three design options would sit atop a pour-in-place rubberized surface meant to ease maintenance and improve accessibility, and the location was chosen partly because it has less impact on underground utilities, which helps keep costs down.
Three Designs, Three Different Price Tags
Ground Discovery, the option that seemed to win over the most council members, is described as a net-like wavy structure for children that fits beneath the park's existing tree canopy, with an estimated cost of $1.5 million to $1.8 million. Council member Jonathan Lambert-Melton said the design seemed safest for users while also preserving the tree canopy, the outlet's report notes.
The second option, Canopy Tower, would be a 20-foot tower children could climb inside, pitched as a vertical landmark that would create a visual connection between Moore Square and the nearby Marbles Kids Museum. It's also the cheapest of the three at an estimated $800,000 to $1 million. But council members raised concerns that it offers fewer play spaces and includes concealed areas where loitering or other unintended uses could occur, per the same report.
The third design, Canopy Journey, would link several towers together with rope tunnels and carries the same estimated price range as Ground Discovery, $1.5 million to $1.8 million. Council members raised similar concerns about concealed spaces with this option as they did with Canopy Tower, the article states.
Downtown Alliance Pushes for a Family Draw
Bill King, president and CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said his group was excited that its advocacy helped produce play options for the council to consider, and he argued Moore Square should be more closely tied to the neighboring Marbles Kids Museum to appeal to families. King said the combination of a Marbles gateway and a new play structure should be compelling enough to draw families across Hargett Street and into the square, and he recommended the design use abundant color to create a strong visual draw. He added that whatever play element is chosen needs to be dynamic enough to actually pull children in, according to the report.
The Downtown Raleigh Alliance has encouraged the city to fund the family-friendly park concept as a near-term intervention, one that could be completed within the next couple of years. Raleigh's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department now plans to gather public feedback on the three designs before bringing the proposals back to the full council.
The connection to Marbles already includes a free outdoor play space: the museum opened its Marbles Playway courtyard in November 2024, with pollinator-themed climbing structures, and museum admission is not required to use it. That means the proposed Moore Square playground would join an existing cluster of family-oriented play spaces, rather than create the area’s first outdoor play destination beside the museum.
A Park With a Complicated Recent History
Moore Square, which sits on South Blount Street, is owned by the state of North Carolina but managed by the city of Raleigh. The four-acre park closed for a $13 million renovation, a budget that started at $12.5 million before increasing, and reopened in 2019 with new features including open lawns, a cafe and a splash pad.
The square’s setting carries a history beyond its role as a downtown park. Raleigh’s historic-district history says Moore Square dates to the city’s original plan, while nearby East Hargett Street became “Black Main Street” after segregation pushed African American businesses there in the 1920s. The city identifies the area as the Moore Square Historic District, linking any new public-space design to a neighborhood with a significant Black commercial history.
That reopening was meant to reposition the historic square as a family-friendly gathering spot, but the park has also drawn law-enforcement attention this year. Raleigh police arrested more than 30 people in Moore Square in August during an operation targeting drug dealing, and the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Division separately highlighted the results of a joint investigation into illegal activity there. Any decision on a new playground would arrive against that backdrop, as the city weighs how to make the square feel welcoming to families again.
The park’s recent record also includes evidence of broad public use alongside the safety concerns behind this year’s enforcement actions. A 2023 Landscape Architecture Foundation case study says the renovated square’s lawn accommodates about 500 programs a year; in its visitor survey, 88% of respondents said they felt safe, citing visibility, event crowds and an on-site police officer. The study also reported fewer crime incidents after the renovation, including a 44% decline within a one-block radius.
