Pigeon House Dog Park
Pigeon House Dog Park occupies a 2.6 acre parcel in downtown Raleigh hidden below, and bound by, an elevated railroad track and two major thoroughfares. This brownfield, a vestigial limb of the light industry that has historically traced the northeastern edge of downtown Raleigh is bisected by the Pigeon House Branch tributary of Raleigh’s beloved Crabtree Creek.
Existing conditions of Pigeon House Branch on site featuring a who’s who of invasive species, industrial flotsam, and profoundly degraded habitats.
Pigeon House Branch is one of only two natural waterways that trace their way through downtown Raleigh, presenting the city with an opportunity to capitalize on eco-toursim by integrating commercial and recreational interests along what is potentially a future greenway network with the creek as its star attraction.
Currently, the property is occupied by garages, a vehicle wasteland, and almost an acre of the property that is in a flood hazard zone. Working with Rich Realty Group, the Pigeon House Dog Park will take advantage of these conditions by retrofitting one of the garages into a bar and yard games attraction with an adjacent, fenced open space for dogs and patrons to run free.
Bioswales planted with native trees, shrubs and grasses trace the edges of the dog park’s open space and parking lot, intercepting flood waters, slowing their velocity, and capturing pollution and debris as the flood waters rise and recede. These planted bioswales help transform pet waste and other biological pollution into nectar for pollinators, caterpillars for birds, and oxygen for the planet before it returning cleaner to Pigeon House Branch Creek.
Open space and existing healthy, high-quality native canopy trees on the site margins provide opportunities to integrate ecosystem service into proposed activity zones.
Adding additional protection to water quality in Pigeon House Branch Creek, the current riparian buffer running 50’ along each bank of the creek will be stripped of invasive species and replanted with genial populations of native trees, shrubs, grasses and forbs historically found along waterways around Raleigh.
Existing buildings on site present an opportunity to up-cycle and integrate commercial activity while minimizing new resource use.
The restored riparian buffer along Pigeon House Branch will be a garden of sorts, crisscrossed with trails, boardwalks and foot bridges creating a moment of natural reprieve in an otherwise grey and industrial area of Raleigh. Furthermore, The Pigeon House Dog Park serves as a model for urban stream restoration and commercialization in Raleigh that hopes to spark interest in daylighting the mostly-buried Pigeon House Branch Creek and encouraging a diversity of tourism in the city.
