Graham residents push to save former Sesquicentennial Park site

About three dozen Graham residents gathered to try to stop the city from selling the former Sesquicentennial Park site at 2 N.W. Court Square, arguing the downtown parcel should stay public and be rebuilt as a landmark rather than turned into surplus property. The empty lot sits across from the Historic Court House.

The park had once held memorial bricks, columns, a pergola, benches, an ornamental clock and the original courthouse bell. Graham began removing the park elements on May 26, 2026, with public works crews taking out the memorial bricks first and storing them. By early afternoon, the brick pavers that had formed the floor of the park were gone, and the clock that stood at the edge of the site had been removed as well.

The site was a civic gift tied to Alamance County’s 150th anniversary. The park was built in the late 1990s to mark the county’s sesquicentennial in 1849, and its completion and dedication came in 2001. At the meeting, county commissioner Sam Powell, who co-chaired the original Sesquicentennial Committee with the late Pat Bailey, urged residents to make sure council members know the park should stay public. Relatives of Bailey also attended.

Jeff Benes, who organized the gathering, said the point was to show city leaders that there is real interest in restoring the park and to push for a council agenda item that would allow citizens to speak. Megan Garner said the city sees several possible methods for handling the property and that state law would not require a public hearing. Graham’s council agreed in June to place the park issue on its July agenda.

The council’s path has shifted several times. In January, members voted 4-1 to move the park to a new location behind the Graham Historical Museum at 135 West Elm Street. Later, the council split 3-2 over whether to seek bids and move toward selling the former park property. The next discussion will focus on procedures for selling the lot.