After closing nearly three years ago, a refreshed Barraud Park is finally reopening in Norfolk.
Originally set to wrap in about two years, the extensive renovations at the historic waterfront park will include a brand-new sign at the entrance, a multi-level playground, horseshoe pits, game tables for chess and checkers and fully renovated restrooms.
Norfolk had planned a reopening ceremony for Saturday,Sept. 26. The city’s park’s department announced Thursday amid city-wide flooding that the event would be postponed, though a new date wasn’t specified.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Mamie Johnson said $4.5 million in funding from the 2021 federal American Rescue Plan Act paid for the park's renovation, and said she separately secured an additional $1.2 million grant through the state Department of Resiliency to clean and restore the park's adjacent waterway.
Johnson said the city's arts commission is also collaborating on a future public art installation at the park.
Barraud Park originally opened in 1928 as the first public park in Norfolk designated for Black residents during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation. The renovation preserved the park's tennis courts, which the city says hosted athletes including Arthur Ashe when they were denied from practicing elsewhere.
Johnson said city research confirmed Ashe practiced at Barraud Park but could not determine which of the two courts he used, so both were restored rather than replacing either. She said she plans to propose a formal community recognition honoring Ashe at the park in the future.
Johnson said the park has long flown under the radar despite its location on the water. "It's one of Norfolk's best kept secrets, a hidden park," she said.
It also holds personal significance to Johnson. "Barraud Park is a place where I grew up," she recalled. "I grew up in Huntersville and Fairmont Park, and Barraud Park was a safe place that my mom and dad would allow me to go... open space was good for us."
