After this week, the Cathy Hudgins Community Center at Southgate will be out of commission for the remainder of 2025.
The facility at 12125 Pinecrest Road in south Reston will close for about 20 weeks starting this Saturday (Aug. 16) to accommodate renovations, including a full heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system overhaul, according to the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS).
The HVAC system needs to be replaced “to address current system deficiencies that caused interruptions to Community Center operations,” an NCS spokesperson said. Six new heat pumps will be installed on the roof as part of the replacement, per a recent newsletter from Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn.
The HVAC replacement will be followed by work to upgrade the community center’s flooring, NCS says.
The HVAC project will cost close to $1.2 million, all coming from the county’s capital project funds. The flooring work will be funded by NCS, which says that portion is expected to cost under $25,000.
During the closure, which is projected to continue into January 2026, the community center’s outdoor athletic courts and blacktop will remain open for use, but most programs will be moved to other locations:
- Afterschool program: Dogwood Elementary School (12300 Glade Drive)
- Teen program: Reston Teen Centers (12196 Sunset Hills Road)
- ESOL, Zumba and yoga: Reston Community Center at Hunters Woods (2310 Colts Neck Road)
- Senior programs, including meditation: Stonegate Village Apartments community room (22448 Stonewheel Drive)
- Re-engagement center: RCC at Hunters Woods
- Better A Life: Stonegate Village Apartments parking lot
- Cathy Hudgins Advisory Council meeting: RCC at Hunters Woods and virtual
- Capitol Area Mobile Food Bank: Stonegate Village Apartments parking lot
- Haunted House: Reston Teen Centers
Opened in 2006 after a previous community room was shuttered, the community center at Southgate was renamed in 2021 after former Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, who had championed the project before retiring in 2019. She died in May at the age of 81.
In addition to providing space for various recreational activities, from basketball to badminton and yoga, the facility offers educational classes and is home to a senior center, a gymnasium, a teen room, an art room and a computer lab. It also has a Little Free Art Gallery and a satellite office for the Fairfax County Circuit Court.
