The fenced-off corner of Fisher Park near Fisher Park Circle and Victoria Street has been an active work site since mid-September. Ten trees have been cut down and ground up there. The next steps are water lines, irrigation and locked electrical outlets. Low seating and a bluestone patio come after that.
The gathering space being built takes up a third less ground than the design Greensboro's Historic Preservation Commission approved, and only ten of the fifteen trees first marked for removal came down. The city's approval was already beyond appeal when neighbors started asking for changes this spring. They got changes anyway.
A Plan That Waited Four Years for Money
The Fisher Park master plan was prepared by Greensboro firm Revington Reaves Landscape Architecture and Planning, and the city adopted it in 2022. It called for better entryways, improved landscaping, upgraded gathering spaces and furnishings, and play areas that respect the park's historic features. Then it sat unfunded. WFDD reported in September that the plan had gone four years without funding.
The money now comes from The Contemporary Foundation. Its president, Dave Staub, lives in Fisher Park and proposed the partnership with Greensboro Parks and Recreation. "It was important to me that prominent local firms and artists were engaged to do the work, as there is considerable talent available within our community," Staub said in the city's September 18 announcement.
The team is local:
- Callaway and Associates designed a four-seasons garden of native plants.
- Jim Gallucci, a Greensboro sculptor, is making a custom metal sculpture called "Divine Wind" for the park entrance from Fisher Park Circle.
- Westcott Small and Associates, a Greensboro civil engineering firm, handled the technical design.
Gallucci's work is already familiar to anyone who uses the Downtown Greenway. His "Over.Under.Pass" project there is a set of 12 decorative iron gates.
The Approval Came First, and the Pushback Came After
The project's timeline explains why the changes came about the way they did. Here is the sequence the Fisher Park Neighborhood Association and the city have published:
- By November 2025. The Historic Preservation Commission had approved a Certificate of Appropriateness for the gathering space, and the period for appealing that approval ended in November 2025.
- May 18 and June 22, 2026. More than a dozen residents came to Fisher Park Neighborhood Association board meetings with concerns about the plan, and Parks and Recreation staff answered their questions.
- Between those meetings. FPNA President Jim Coleman met three times with Parks and Recreation, the designers and the donor about the number of trees and the size of the patio.
- Week of September 18, 2026. Work began with tree removal. The city said the section nearest Fisher Park Circle and Victoria Street would be closed for safety during the project.
WFMY reported that a petition asking the city to pause the project and collect more input drew more than 60 signatures. According to that report, the concerns were tree removal, the size of the patio, and whether enough neighbors had known about the planning process. Erin Kennedy, planning and projects coordinator for Greensboro Parks and Recreation, told the station, "We definitely heard neighbors' concerns."
A Shallower Patio and a Smaller Footprint
Coleman described the changes at the June 22 board meeting, and the association published them in its Summer 2026 newsletter:
| Approved design | Revised design | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees to be removed | 15 | 10 |
| Patio shape and size | Ellipse, about 62 ft long by 32 ft deep | Ellipse, about 52 ft long by 20 ft deep |
| Walkway around back and sides | Five feet wide | Removed |
| Overall footprint | Baseline | Reduced by 33% |
The patio's depth went from 32 feet to 20, which is more than a third shallower, and its length dropped by about ten feet. Using those dimensions, the patio ellipse itself covers roughly half the area it did in the approved design. The 33% figure applies to the whole gathering space, which includes the five-foot walkway that was removed from the back and sides. The tree count on the ground matches the revision. The neighborhood association's park coordinator, Jim Halsch, reported in the Fall 2026 newsletter that 10 trees have been removed.
The city says the removed trees were cleared for the hardscape or because of their condition or invasive classification. The plan calls for planting 30 new canopy trees in the west section.
Built Where the Neighborhood Already Gathers
The city's announcement says the bluestone patio and wall seating will go in "where the neighborhood is accustomed to holding community events." Kennedy made the same point to WFMY: the goal is to improve a spot people already use as an informal gathering area and keep what makes the park different.
"You're in the middle of the city, but you feel like you're in the woods when you're down in the middle of the park, and we want to keep that feeling." Erin Kennedy, Greensboro Parks and Recreation, to WFMY
The neighborhood association's calendar backs this up. Luminaria Winterfest, the association's early-December gathering with a permitted bonfire and Santa at the King's Chair, is held in West Fisher Park. The work list for the patio includes locked electrical outlets alongside the irrigation, a detail that suits a space meant for hosting.
Parks Director Phil Fleischmann said he also expects the improved park to draw people from the Downtown Greenway.
What's Still Ahead on the West Side
Construction is scheduled to continue through 2026 and into 2027. As of the association's fall update, these steps were still ahead:
- Water lines, irrigation and locked electrical outlets
- Low seating and the bluestone patio
- Tree replanting, expected in late fall or winter
The city is also building an accessible pathway and a parking space along Fisher Park Circle, which will make that side of the park easier to enter. Gallucci's "Divine Wind" will stand at the Fisher Park Circle entrance, next to the four-seasons garden.
Only the section nearest Fisher Park Circle and Victoria Street is closed. The rest of the park is open, including the woodland paths and the northern meadow in the west park and the playground in the east park, which has swings, a climbing area and a slide.
The East Side Is Next in the Plan
The city says that, with The Contemporary Foundation's continued support, it intends to carry the improvements into the east park until the whole park matches the master plan. That makes the 2022 Fisher Park Master Plan the best guide to what could come next.
The plan describes Fisher Park as Greensboro's first public park, about 14 acres, with a creek that feeds Buffalo Creek, shaded trails, stone bridges and stairs, an open field, gardens and a playground. For the east side, it recommends:
- Making most of the linear trail accessible and adding accessible parking near the northeast playground
- A boardwalk over a path connection that floods often
- Play equipment with a more natural character over time, an accessible route from North Church Street, and three or four small play features along the path toward the Center City Monument
The plan also calls for preserving the historic stone bridges and stairs, clearing vegetation that is damaging the masonry, and making repairs with historically appropriate methods. It suggests a history and nature walk with stops at the King's Chair, the City Center Monument, the old swimming hole and the creek. Greensboro Parks and Recreation keeps the plan and current project updates on its park planning and development page, listed under Fisher Park Gathering Space.
Luminaria Is on the Calendar for West Fisher Park
The Fisher Park Neighborhood Association's events page lists Luminaria Winterfest for Sunday, December 13, at dusk in West Fisher Park, with a rain date of Sunday, December 20.
Construction is going on in the same part of the park as Luminaria, so check the latest details before you go. The association posts updates on its Facebook group and by text: send FPNA to 336-203-7773.
If you live near Fisher Park and are weighing what these changes mean for your home's future, the Headen Homes team is happy to sit down and talk it through. Let's Take the Next Step.
