Graham council sets special meeting for West Elm Street park contract

A special meeting of the Graham City Council will push the West Elm Street park fight from debate into contracting, with members set to decide whether to award a construction contract or authorize staff to spend grant money on materials and move ahead.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 27, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the City Hall council chamber at 201 S. Main Street. City bid documents say the project would replace an existing city-owned parking lot at 129 W. Elm Street with a new park intended to serve as an urban gathering space, and they call for the work to be substantially complete by June 30, 2026. Proposals were due April 14.

The pace has sharpened the political divide around the project. Mayor pro tem Ricky Hall, council members Bobby Chin and Bonnie Whitaker have backed the park, while Mayor Chelsea Dickey and councilman Jim Young have opposed it, leaving the issue as one of the city’s most contentious current votes. Megan Garner, the city manager, confirmed the meeting date and time, and assistant city manager Aaron Holland had polled council availability by group text as officials tried to settle on a session that would work for members and the public.

The special meeting comes after months of public controversy over where Sesquicentennial Park should go. The city first held a public hearing on the relocation proposal on Sept. 9, 2025. Council later voted 4-1 on Jan. 13 and 14, 2026, to move the park behind the Graham Historical Museum at 135 W. Elm Street, away from its longtime home at 2 NW Court Square.

Historic preservation rules have added another layer of scrutiny. The Graham Historic Resources Commission held a special hearing on March 24 to consider a certificate of appropriateness for the project, and city materials say the Courthouse Square Historic District is locally designated and requires a COA for exterior alterations, construction or demolition.

The project is tied to a $600,000 state-directed downtown revitalization grant in the 2023 state budget, money local reporting has linked to the park effort. The existing Sesquicentennial Park was built in 2001 to mark Alamance County’s 150th anniversary, and residents who packed a February hearing sharply opposed moving it, with the council chamber overflowing. Local reporting has also said the new site behind the museum is less than one-fifth the size of the current park.

If council approves the contract Monday, the argument in Graham will move another step closer to the ground, with construction timing now driving the future of one of downtown’s most visible blocks.