Members of the Durham City Council have asked city staff to come up with a plan to preserve the Durham Athletic Park. That’s after councilmembers heard a presentation on options for the site at their Nov. 6 work session.
The DAP, which turns 100 next year, was home to the Durham Bulls for decades and featured in the 1988 film "Bull Durham." The park now hosts youth baseball, occasional concerts, and community events like the Common Roots Festival. But it sits empty for most of the year, even as the neighborhood around it has added hundreds of residents thanks to new development.
“On average, the park is only active about 124 days per year, meaning it sits unused for roughly two thirds of the calendar year,” Jaci Field of Durham’s community programs department told the council. The Durham Bulls continue to provide maintenance and groundskeeping services for the park through an agreement with the city. “However, the nature of programming focused almost exclusively on competitive baseball limits who can use the space and how it can be used,” Field said.
Durham leaders began looking at options for the DAP in 2024. The city council selected Perkins and Will to conduct a feasibility study. Field said more than 2,600 residents filled out a survey. Most respondents said they wanted to see improvements to the site but were opposed to a full redevelopment or new housing on the property.
Perkins and Will architect Zena Howard said the DAP’s small footprint — a little over five acres — opens a range of possible uses. “We looked across the Triangle, and we can see small urban parks are redefining what's possible in tight spaces,” she told the council. She cited Downtown Cary Park and Moore Square in Raleigh as examples.
Howard presented three options: keep the DAP mostly as it is with renovations to improve accessibility, further renovations to create more green space in front of the park, or a “transformation” that could see the ballpark torn down and replaced with a new community park. Council members say they prefer some version of the first option that would seethe DAP continue as a working ballpark along with new amenities that highlight its history in professional baseball.
Marcus Manning, executive director of the Durham Sports Commission, mentioned there’s an opportunity that the DAP could once again host a professional team. He cited “potential interest” from three tenants. “We've had conversations about what Durham Athletic Park could be, potential upgrades, and also the significant interest in a downtown footprint,” he said.
City staff are working on an updated plan for the DAP that they will bring back to the council in the coming months.
