parks department

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Neighborhood Projects Approved — The Arlington County Board unanimously approved $3.4 million in funding for six neighborhood improvement projects. “This is the third round in funding for key recommended Neighborhood Conservation projects from the 2010 voter-approved $9 million Community Conservation Bond,” the county noted in a press release. [Arlington County]

County Looking for Partner to Spruce Up Farmhouse — The Arlington Department of Parks and Recreation is looking for a charitable individual or organization interested in restoring the historic, county-owned Reevesland farmhouse and estate. The restoration is expected to cost upwards of $1 million. [Sun Gazette]

DESIGNArlington Awards Announced — Arlington County is recognizing outstanding architectural or landscape design through its second-annual DESIGNArlington awards. Among five recipients of the highest “Award of Excellence” this year, three are county-owned buildings and two are private residences. [Arlington County]

John Glenn, Astronaut and Arlingtonian — Astronaut (and U.S. Senator) John Glenn lived in Arlington for about five years around the time he was becoming a celebrity space pioneer. Glenn lived in a single-story home near Williamsburg Junior High School (now Williamsburg Middle School) between 1958 and 1963. [Arlington Public Library]

County Planning July 4 Celebration at Long Bridge Park

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County residents have a new place to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July.

The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation announced today that it’s planning a day-long Independence Day celebration at the recently-opened Long Bridge Park near Crystal City.

“During the day the park will be programmed to do what it was created to do… hold fun sports events on the fields and creatively program the Esplanade with viewing, dining and shopping options,” parks department spokeswoman Susan Kalish said via email. “In the evening, there will be a more traditional old-time Fourth of July celebration with games for all ages, decorated bicycle parade, face painting, balloon art, and of course, amazing views of the Washington fireworks display.”

Arlington is currently seeking partnerships for the family-friendly event, including community groups and food and craft vendors.

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Parks Department Shortens Name — The Arlington County Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources is now just the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation. The “Cultural Resources” part of the name was dropped after the Cultural Affairs Division (and Artisphere) was moved over to the county’s Arlington Economic Development department.

Doctor Threatens Suit Against VSP for ‘Racial Slurs’ — A Florida doctor is contemplating a lawsuit against Virginia State Police for alleged civil rights violations following an accident. The incident started on July 3, 2011, when Dr. Maria Ferrer crashed her car into an HOV gate on I-395 in Arlington. Dr. Ferrer says two VSP troopers arrived on scene and, at one point, used racial slurs before citing her for traffic violations. [NBC Washington]

ARLnow.com Reaches 100,000 Comments — At some point yesterday afternoon, ARLnow.com recorded its 100,000th published comment. That’s an average of about 137 comments per day since ARLnow.com first launched on Jan. 29, 2010.

Reconstruction of Old Jeff Davis Hwy Set for 2012

By ARLnow.com

Old Jefferson Davis Highway, which will be officially renamed “Long Bridge Drive” next year, is arguably the worst road in Arlington County.

With deep potholes, large pools of standing water, and no lane markings, the road — which connects Boundary Channel Drive and Crystal Drive/12th Street S. — is not easily traversed by anything smaller than an SUV.

That was less of a problem when the road served primarily as a short cut for adventurous I-395 commuters and Pentagon employees. Since November, however, Old Jefferson Davis Highway has been the sole road leading to the newly-opened, $31 million Long Bridge Park. That has led to some grumbles among park users.

“Old Jefferson Davis Hwy is in SERIOUS need of repaving,” one local resident said in an email to ARLnow.com. “Why would they open a brand new park, but not provide a safe road to get to it or tear down the decrepit buildings next to it?”

The good news is that relief is on the way. According to Arlington’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR), a reconstruction project for the road will begin in early-to-mid 2012.

“The reconstruction of Old Jefferson Davis Highway should begin in earnest toward the end of February/early March pending the completion of utility relocation,” said PRCR planner Erik Beach. “The installation of a massive stormwater system will be one of the first steps in rebuilding the road. The final paving will be late summer of 2012.”

The road was originally supposed to have been reconstructed by the time Long Bridge Park opened, according to Beach, but the project was pushed by due to delays in Dominion and Verizon relocating their utility lines.

“The County cannot begin its wet utility work until the dry utilities have been relocated by the utility providers,” Beach said. “Dominion appears to have completed their work and Verizon projecting a late January completion. This places the finished road at the end of August 2012 with landscaping going in in the early fall.”

The finished road — which will by then be called Long Bridge Drive — is expected to include an improved drainage system, two bike lanes, on-street parking, median strips, sidewalks, street trees, pedestrian lighting, curbs and new pavement.

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Parks and Rec Class Registration Crashes, Again

By ARLnow.com

Overzealous parents may have helped to bring down the server that hosts the Arlington parks and recreation class registration system this morning.

Registration for winter parks and recreation classes, popular with school-aged children, opened at 8:00 a.m. The registration website was beset by technical problems within 5 minutes of the opening, but was back up and working by 8:15 a.m., according to Arlington Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources spokeswoman Susan Kalish.

Even though the problems lasted less than 15 minutes, some parents — who rushed to register their children for classes before the classes filled up — weren’t pleased. Similar technical problems have plagued the class registration system in the past.

“Server crashes have happened repeatedly on the morning of class signup — to the frustration of parents across Arlington trying to sign their kids up for classes,” one parent told ARLnow.com.

Another tipster said that the timing of the registration opening — around the same time that kids are getting ready for school — has made things unnecessarily difficult for parents.

“The problem is that some of the classes fill up so fast and if you can’t get through by the time you do someone else has your class and you are wait listed,” the parent said. “Also try working on this with kids running around trying to get ready for school and climbing on you. Not easy. This happens every registration.”

Another source of frustration for some: this year’s class schedule erroneously listed the registration date as “Wednesday, Dec. 13.”

Kalish said the parks department is working with its technology vendor to identify the source of this morning’s problems. Despite the fact that online registration number have “increased significantly over the past few years,” Kalish said server capacity was likely not the culprit this year.

“In the past, the registration volume in the first 10-15 minutes of registration has taxed our servers,” Kalish said. “We addressed that issue prior to this registration cycle and our servers functioned well and were not at capacity this morning. We are working with the vendor to explore what else could be contributing to this issue.”

Kalish said today is one of the  busiest days for class registration, though the first day of summer camp registration is usually the busiest.

New Signs Discourage Smoking in County Parks

By ARLnow.com

As part of its new “Smoke-Free Parks Initiative,” Arlington County has placed ‘no smoking’ signs in more than a dozen county parks.

But while many government signs convey a law — a ‘no littering’ sign, for instance — the new signs have the word “Please” above “No [Smoking],” since Arlington doesn’t actually have the authority to outlaw smoking in parks. Rather than a ban, Arlington is simply asking smokers to voluntarily refrain from smoking within 50 feet of playgrounds, courts, ball fields, pavilions, recreation areas and other “areas of congregation.”

“To the extent possible, it is important for the County to take action to prevent park patrons’ exposure to this dangerous health hazard,” Arlington County explains on its website. “Children may be especially vulnerable, which is why the Smoke-Free Parks Initiative is specifically targeting areas where children congregate.”

To help spur public awareness of the new initiative, the Arlington parks and recreation department is encouraging Facebook fans to post photos of themselves giving a thumbs up in front of the signs. County Board members Mary Hynes, Walter Tejada and Chris Zimmerman are leading by example by being the first to flash a big thumbs up next to the signs (above).

The parks department will also be holding a “Smoke-Free Parks Kickoff” event at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17 in Bon Air Park (850 N. Lexington Street). The event is being held in conjunction with the Great American Smokeout.

Currently, the ‘no smoking’ signs are in place at the following parks: Bluemont, Bon Air, Quincy, Barcroft, Virginia Highlands, Long Bridge and Big Walnut, Chestnut Hills, Ft. C.F. Smith, Tuckahoe, Westover, Fields and Lubber Run. More signs are on the way, we’re told.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Goldman Sachs Invests in Rosslyn — Investment giant Goldman Sachs has acquired a majority stake in 3 million square feet of office space in Rosslyn. The acquisition includes trophy properties like the gleaming metal-and-glass 1000 and 1100 Wilson Boulevard towers. The office space represents 30 percent of Rosslyn’s 10 million square feet of commercial real estate. [Washington Post, BusinessWire]

County Wants Residents to Stop Smoking in Parks — Arlington’s parks department is planning on politely asking visitors to county parks to refrain from smoking near ballfields, pavilions and playgrounds. The initiative will use signs, not the force of law, to try to get visitors to comply. [Sun Gazette]

Reagan Statue Unveiled at DCA — A 9-foot bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan was unveiled yesterday at the airport that bears his name. The $900,000 statue, located in front of Terminal A of Reagan National Airport, was paid for by the private Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. [Washington Times]

Flickr pool photo by Christaki

Arlington: Come Get Your Free Trees

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Parks and Natural Resources Division is offering free saplings to any resident interested in planting a tree in his or her yard.

The county is offering one tree per household and up to five trees for groups like condo/homeowner’s associations, churches, civic associations or other neighborhood organizations. Among the available species are large trees like American sycamores, black oaks, black gum/tupelos, cherrybark oaks, red maples, yellow poplars and Virginia pines. Smaller tree offerings include serviceberries, staghorn sumacs, winterberry hollies and American witch hazels.

A PDF list of tree species, their growth requirements, estimated measurements and other attributes is available on the county’s web site.

Offering a variety of species “will increase the resistance of our tree canopy to disease and pests, as well as increasing the habitat available for birds, butterflies, and wildlife,” according to the parks department.

Anyone interested in planting a tree is asked to reserve it online.

Saplings will be available for pickup between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the weekend of Oct. 15 and 16, at the county nursery — located behind the Barcroft Recreation Center at 4200 S. Four Mile Run Drive. TreeStewards and county staff will be on hand with information about tree care. They will also help load the saplings — some of which are up to 6 feet tall — into vehicles.

Board Approves New Barcroft Park Baseball Field

By ARLnow.com

Baseball Field #6 at Barcroft Park will be getting an extreme makeover this winter.

Last night the Arlington County Board unanimously approved a plan that will provide at least $3 million for major improvements to the ball field, paid in full by George Washington University. GWU’s baseball team has used Barcroft as its home field since 1992, and has long desired a venue more on par with other universities.

Under a new 20-year agreement, GWU will pay all upgrade costs while splitting annual maintenance costs 25/75 with Arlington County. The maintenance split reflects the agreement that GWU will have access to the field for 25 percent of available hours while the county will be able to provide public access to the field for 75 percent of available hours.

County staff estimated Arlington’s yearly share of maintenance and repair costs for the field at between $25,000 to $40,000.

“GWU’s contribution will make Field #6 the best baseball field in Arlington, while the community will have even more use of the field than it has now,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement. “This is a great example of how local government can leverage public-private partnerships to bring real benefits to the community.”

A major component of the upgrade is a new artificial turf field — a first for an Arlington County baseball diamond. Other planned upgrades include new fencing, dugouts, bullpens, batting cages and stadium seating, as well as a new entry plaza, press box, concession area, and parking lot layout. Possible future changes include new restrooms, locker rooms and a new scoreboard. There are no planned changes to the field’s lighting system.

“This is a great opportunity to provide a modern facility for both GW student-athletes and the youth of northern Virginia, and we thank Arlington County for its support of this transformational project,” said GWU athletic director Patrick Nero.

GWU is hoping to upgrade the field in time for the spring baseball season. Construction is expected to begin next month, with the field reopening in March 2012.

Volunteer Opp: Dogtober Day 2011

By ARLnow.com

Arlington’s Parks Department is seeking volunteers for its annual Dogtober Day celebration at Lacey Woods Park (1200 N. George Mason Drive).

On Saturday, Oct. 8, dogs will compete for prizes in categories like best kisser, best tail wagger, cutest costume and fastest pooch. The day will also feature dog training, grooming, treats and rescues.

Arlington is seeking up to 25 volunteers to help with set up, registration, ribbons and prizes, dog games, judges’ paper work and end-of-program break down. Anyone interested should contact volunteer coordinator Rhonda Nibert online or at 703-228-4724.

Although information for this year’s event hasn’t been placed online yet, the info page from last year’s Dogtober Day is still available.

Meeting to Discuss $4 Million Baseball Field Revamp

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Parks Department will be holding a meeting next week to discuss a proposed $3-4 million renovation to one of the baseball fields at Barcroft Park.

George Washington University, which uses Barcroft as the home field for its baseball team, is proposing to fully-fund a number of enhancements to the field, including artificial turf, dugouts, new restrooms, new stadium seating, a press box, a bullpen and concession stands. The field’s existing dark sky lighting would not be changed.

The parks department will discuss the proposed changes with the community at a public meeting on Tuesday, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting is being held at the Fairlington Community Center (3308 S. Stafford Street), in room 118.

The County Board is expected to consider the renovation proposal at its Sept. 17 meeting. If approved, construction is expected to begin this fall and be complete by March 2012.

The university has played at Barcroft for nearly 20 years, under an arrangement that made GW responsible for some of the field’s maintenance. Under the proposal, GW will continue to pay a portion of the maintenance costs, in addition to the full cost of the renovations. The field’s usage by the baseball team will remain the same.

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