"It's one of Norfolk's best kept secrets, a hidden park," Ward 3 Councilwoman Mamie Johnson told WHRO last month, describing a waterfront park that has spent close to three years behind construction fencing. That stretch ends Saturday, Oct. 17. The city has scheduled the Barraud Park grand reopening at 1136 Vista Street from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It starts with a brief ceremony, followed by community vendors, family activities, treats and tours of the renovated grounds.
The Barraud Park that opens Saturday is only the first part of the project. The city's plan was always to finish it in phases, so several features are scheduled for after opening day. The renovation kept the two tennis courts, the part of the park with the longest history, instead of rebuilding them.
Three years for a park the neighborhood never stopped asking about
The schedule explains why Saturday matters to people who live near Lindenwood and Cottage Heights. According to the Virginian-Pilot's January report, the project was announced in spring 2022 and was originally expected to take 24 to 26 months. Here is how it actually went:
- Spring 2022. The renovation is announced, with $4.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds behind it.
- October 2023. The park closes for construction.
- October 2024. After delays and complaints from residents, Mayor Kenny Alexander asks Parks and Recreation staff to look into reopening parts of the park while work continues. The park stays closed.
- December. Contractor E. T. Gresham Co. receives its notice to proceed, according to city spokesperson Kelly Straub.
- January 2026. Construction begins. The contractor says the park can open safely by July 1, 2026.
- Sept. 26, 2026. The first grand reopening date is postponed because of weather.
- Oct. 1, 2026. The city posts the new date, Saturday, Oct. 17.
The Pilot story also included a view from the neighborhood. Shavon Smith, president of the Lindenwood/Cottage Heights/Barraud Park Civic League, has lived nearby for close to three decades. He told the paper he remembers his grandmother bringing him to the park to fly his first kite. "The park is a landmark," Smith said. The civic league has a record of neighborhood projects. Its "LOVE Project," short for "Living in an Optimal, Viable, Evolving" community, took third place for Project of the Year in the Virginia Statewide Neighborhoods Conference's 2018 awards, which were announced even though that year's conference was canceled for weather.
The budget shows how the money was planned. The city's capital plan item "Transform Barraud Park" puts $500,000 toward planning and design and $4 million toward construction and furnishings. The same document says the park's boxing program had already moved to Harbor Park before the redesign. That move shaped what the new plan could become.
What opens Saturday, and what waits for the offseason
The phased build comes from the city itself. In January, Straub told the Pilot that construction would be finished in stages. She listed what would be ready at reopening and what would be added in the offseason afterward.
| Planned for reopening | Planned for later offseason work |
|---|---|
| Playground | Multi-use court |
| Fitness area | Game table plaza |
| Sidewalks and paths | Skate park |
| Basketball court | Site furnishings |
| Tennis court | Renovated restrooms |
| Horseshoe pits | |
| Water and sewer improvements, buffer plantings |
WHRO's September report gives a broader list. It describes a new entrance sign, a multi-level playground, horseshoe pits, chess and checkers tables and fully renovated restrooms as part of the renovation. That story does not say which of those features will be finished on reopening day. In January the Pilot placed game tables and restrooms in the offseason phase, and no later report says whether that schedule changed. Saturday's tours are the clearest chance to see what is done.
The table also shows what the park is becoming. The playground, paths, fitness area and basketball court make a neighborhood park people can use right away. The skate park and multi-use court in the next phase bring in uses Barraud has not had before.
Two tennis courts, restored on purpose
Some of the planned features are new. The tennis courts were kept. Barraud Park opened in 1928 as the first public park in Norfolk designated for Black residents during the Jim Crow era of segregation. WHRO reports that its tennis courts hosted athletes, Arthur Ashe among them, at a time when they were denied places to practice elsewhere.
Johnson told WHRO that city research confirmed Ashe practiced at Barraud Park. It could not show which of the two courts he used, so the city restored both and replaced neither. Other features in the plan were built new. The courts tied to Ashe stayed where they were.
The park's athletic history goes beyond tennis. WAVY's September announcement says boxer Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker also practiced at Barraud. It also says boxing coach Gloria Peek worked out of the park and later became the first woman to coach male boxers at the 2012 Olympics. Boxing has since moved to Harbor Park, which leaves the tennis courts as the main part of that history still standing at Barraud.
The next phases go past the courts
The offseason work in the table is only part of what comes after Oct. 17. Johnson told WHRO that the city's arts commission is working on a future public art installation at the park. She also plans to propose a formal community recognition of Ashe there. The courts have been preserved, and those plans would add a public marker of what happened on them.
The water is part of the plan as well. WHRO calls Barraud a "historic waterfront park." 13News Now has identified the water behind the park and nearby Lindenwood Elementary as the Lafayette River. Johnson said she separately secured a $1.2 million state grant to clean and restore that adjacent waterway, in addition to the $4.5 million renovation. The public reports reviewed for this post do not describe the scope or schedule of that work.
The city's New Barraud Park page is where future phase announcements are likely to appear.
Fitting Saturday together
Oct. 17 has two other Norfolk events running at the same time as the reopening.
- Barraud Park Grand Reopening, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1136 Vista Street. Free, with a ceremony at 11 a.m. followed by vendors, activities and park tours.
- Stockley Gardens Arts Festival, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Stockley Gardens Park in Ghent. It is free and features more than 125 artists, and all proceeds support individuals with developmental disabilities served by Hope House Foundation. A free after-hours Garden pARTy and awards featuring "Community Witch" runs from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday.
- Town Point Virginia Fall Wine Festival, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Town Point Park on the Downtown Norfolk waterfront.
The Barraud ceremony ends at 2 p.m. and Stockley Gardens stays open until 5 p.m. That leaves time to attend the reopening in the late morning and still see the art festival that afternoon. Sunday's festival hours give a second chance to anyone who spends Saturday at the park.
If you live near Barraud Park and want to know how your home compares to recent sales nearby, Robert Ramey can put together a free home valuation and local market review, based on the same local detail he follows across Hampton Roads.
