Aerial view of the Fairfax City Hall Campus.
For more than a year, a committee has been researching potential sites for a community center in the City of Fairfax. And although the Green Acres Center on Sideburn Road was originally in the mix, three other locations seem more feasible.
“It’s currently well-used by the community for a wide variety of uses,” said Eric Forman with Community Development and Planning. “But the 65-year-old building has never been fully renovated, has no full-size gym and has too many small rooms for a community center.”
Speaking at a recent, City Council work session, he said a community center should be in a building at least 40,000 square feet, but could be larger if partners contributed to its construction, operation and maintenance. He also said it should contain a senior center, fitness facility with full-size gym, a kitchen and parking.
Green Acres is on a 10-acre site, but is inconvenient since it’s at the City’s edge. And, added Forman, “It may still be used by the School Board for a future school.” So a committee looked at 21 possible locations, narrowing down the choices to six and then three. They are the City Hall campus, the GMU townhouses and the old Fairfax Elementary site.
The City Hall Campus is about 8 acres along Armstrong Street, between Chain Bridge Road and George Mason Boulevard. It’s City-owned land in a central location near downtown. It’s easily accessible and is served by public transportation. There’s room for an additional building, but it’s a fairly small footprint and structured parking would be necessary to accommodate all uses.
The GMU Townhouse Complex is also near downtown and served by public transportation. It’s owned by the GMU Foundation and consists of two parcels on Chain Bridge Road between West Drive and Canfield Street. Its use would require the foundation possibly swapping it to the City for land elsewhere or selling it outright. But it’s only 3.1 acres and its irregular shape might pose a development challenge.
The Old Fairfax Elementary site is on 2 acres at the corner of Main and Locust streets. It’s centrally located and easily accessible, and nearby Ratcliffe Park and the Fairfax Museum could complement community-center functions. But this property is privately owned and isn’t currently for sale. It’s also small in size, the City would have to purchase it, and it would then no longer provide tax income for the City.
Forman sought the Council’s guidance and permission to proceed with the investigation, plus discussions of partnering. He also suggested engaging a consultant to analyze each of the six, finalist sites – the other three were Providence Park, Paul VI High and the Willard Health Center property – and make recommendations about the uses and how they’d fit on each site.
He said the next steps would be determining the location and doing a funding and operational analysis. Then a consultant could do the community-center design and layout, estimate the architectural and engineering costs, and then determine the costs of operation and maintenance.
“We could prepare the issue for a bond referendum, potentially by November 2018,” said Forman. “And throughout the process, we’d have continuous public involvement and input, including from the Green Acres [Feasibility Study] Committee.”
THE CITY’S SCHOOL BOARD holds a Deed of Covenant on the Green Acres property, in case it’s again needed for a school someday. So Councilwoman Ellie Schmidt asked, “How far out will we be able to predict the need for a new elementary school?” She said demographics, new development, school-boundary changes and special programs could all influence enrollment in the future.
“Enrollment is expected to increase in the Providence Elementary area by 2020,” she said. “So the School Board may need a new school in 15-20 years – or maybe never – so they want to retain the covenant on the property. Although, school boundaries can be redrawn to deal with increased enrollment.”
City Schools Superintendent Peter Noonan said the school population on opening day in September was down some in three out of the four schools. However, he noted that Daniels Run Elementary is now exceeding its 735-student capacity and “over 99 percent of its students live in the City of Fairfax.” In September 2015, it started the year with 713 students, but it opened in 2016 with 755 students.
“Our population of students in poverty at Providence and Daniels Run continues to increase each year,” said Noonan. “But there are state caps on the number of K through second-grade students in poverty that can be in a school. So it creates a need for space. As more and more children need free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch, we may hit those state caps.”
Schmidt asked the potential cost to renovate the Green Acres building, and Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Salgado said it would be “at least $10 million.”
Councilman Jeff Greenfield asked if any consideration was given to the pine-tree area at the end of Van Dyke Park. Councilman Michael DeMarco – who was on the Green Acres committee along with Councilwoman Janice Miller – said it was one of the 21 sites evaluated, but the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board “had resistance to it since it’s one of our premier, open spaces in the City.”
“But we could still consider this site,” added Miller. “It would create a synergy with the Sherwood Center and create a campus.”
Greenfield noted the existing traffic already on Old Lee Highway, with schools, the police station and the Sherwood Center along it, but said it could be considered for a community-center site. Mayor Steve Stombres then asked if the City should move forward with this project.
“The committee told us we have a significant need for a community center, Green Acres would be too expensive to renovate and we could find a more suitable location,” said DeMarco. “So I think we should proceed. My preference is to find a site we already own.”
Miller listed Green Acres’s drawbacks, including inadequate parking and no lighting, and said the GMU site also has parking issues. “But the School Board is willing to look at another 10-acre site for its Deed of Covenant,” she said. “I’d like us to get more information on the locations and then have public outreach.”
Schmidt asked for a cost estimate, and Salgado said they could provide it. But, she added, “The more detailed the information we get and the larger the number of sites we consider, the higher the cost.”
GREEN ACRES currently houses Main Street Child Development Center and the City’s Young at Heart Senior Center, and Councilman David Meyer asked what would happen to Green Acres if it’s no longer used for these purposes. “Finding tenants for it could be problematic, so it could be costly,” he said.
“The committee asked ourselves that question,” replied Miller. “We could possibly use it for senior housing if it were abandoned by both the School Board and the City. Or another school or preschool might want to co-locate there.”
The Council then gave City staff the go-ahead to proceed with the community-center project, pending cost estimates, possibly adding back another site and discussing what to do with Green Acres.