Be a part of Elizabeth City’s History
Compiled by Rebecca Cross
Be a part of history by having your family or friend’s, or even your business’s name, inscribed on a brick lining the floor of the beautiful Waterfront Park Pavilion. There are about 100 - 8 x 4 inch bricks still available. Now is the time to insure a place as part of Elizabeth City’s history by having your names inscribed to be read daily by passing visitors and local residents for generations to come. A tax deductible donation of $60.00 will continue the downtown area revitalization efforts.
The Pavilion at Waterfront Park represents a part of Elizabeth City’s history. The center of the pavilion is a hand-crafted dome which once graced the top of the first area hospital. The history of the dome can be traced back 1914 when the hospital was founded. The City of Elizabeth City and Pasquotank County bought the hospital in 1930. Thirty years later a new hospital was built and the old hospital became the first building for the College of the Albemarle. When College of the Albemarle moved to its new location, the “old hospital” was sold for an apartment building. The new owner donated the dome to the city in June 1995. Although the city accepted it, Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc. was given the challenge of raising funds to build the 24-by-24 foot pavilion. The city gave the property for its construction, and several generous contributors helped relocate the dome to Waterfront park, restore it, and erect it as a meaningful park pavilion for the community, with donations and “at cost” materials. Some of the labor was completed without cost by local craftspersons.
By 1997 the dome was restored and set on columns reminiscent of the old hospital’s facade. The floor of the pavilion was constructed of engraved bricks. The pavilion setting has served as a site for weddings, picnics, get-togethers, festivals and a quiet place for pedestrians to relax. Located across the street from the Museum of the Albemarle, a branch of the North Carolina Museum of History, the pavilion’s green roof was painted to match the roof of the museum. The Pavilion has been a constant reminder of an interested community saving a piece of history and reinventing a use for something that might have ended up in the local landfill.
Please contact Rebecca Cross at Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc., 252-338-4104 or elizabethcitydowntown@embarqmail.com for information on reserving your brick. Due to a limited number of bricks and the process to inscribe them, there are no special placement requests or specific date of completion requests at this time. The bricks are inscribed about twice a year.