Facilities

Poplar Lawn Park, formally known as Central Park, is a very pleasant yet inadequately maintained park. Located within the Poplar Lawn neighborhood, a nationally regis-tered historic neighborhood, the park has been witness to much history. In 1812 The Petersburg Volunteers camped on the site before leaving for the Canadian border, and in 1824 General Lafayette was greeted with much fanfare. At the beginning of the Civil War volunteers enlisted for ser-vice in the Confederate army, and then at the end of thewar a hospital was erected on the site during the siege of Petersburg. 

 The park currently contains about four (4) square blocks of land which is sparsely landscaped and contains a radial path network. The park provides a comfortable gathering space central to the park consisting of ornate concrete tables and benches set around a raised landscape feature. A few of the residences that surround the park actually front directly onto the park’s grounds. This Park contains several specimen trees and houses of historical importance. Central Park was a nicely planned park that has fallen to neglect, and could offer a nice amenity acces-sible to a wide area of the city.