Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) officials want to renovate three aging recreation centers, but with money tight, at least one project will have to be put on hold.
Park Authority Executive Director Jai Cole told members of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Dec. 16) that she is hopeful the full $60 million in funding needed for the Audrey Moore Rec Center will be included in the 2026 park bond sent to voters next November.
Cole said current plans call for an additional $25 million of the $180 million bond package to be allocated to more modest improvements for either the Providence or Franconia recreation centers.
Of the two, “we started leaning more towards Franconia,” Cole said at the annual work session between the Board of Supervisors and park authority leaders.
Given the limited pool of funding, “I don’t think there is an opportunity to do both,” she acknowledged. “Construction costs are going up. Everything is just costing more money. Worst case, we can do [renovations in] sections.”
The Audrey Moore facility is the Fairfax County Park Authority’s oldest recreation center, built in 1977. The Franconia and Providence centers were constructed in the early 1980s.
No matter the order, “we’re excited that we can move forward with these in the coming years,” said Cole, who has headed the park authority since 2021.
The park authority is coming off the successful, though delayed, renovation of the Mount Vernon Rec Center. Construction on the project, which included a second ice rink, among other amenities, shut the facility down for two years.
Earlier this year, it reopened with a flourish, and now has more than 5,500 active members, said Sara Baldwin, the park authority’s chief operating officer.
“We’re really delighted to see the growth,” said Baldwin, who called the reopened center “wildly successful.”
The Mount Vernon projects may become the template for the future renovation work.
Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay acknowledged that closing public facilities for renovation is “not the easiest political decision,” since it causes “short-term pain … and a little inconvenience.”
But, he said, it often is the most cost-efficient and practical solution.
“We should be looking at that” for the recreation center improvements, McKay said.
Timothy Hackman, who serves as vice chair and represents Dranesville District on the Park Authority Board, said it remains an open question if that was the best option. Citing the Mount Vernon example, he suggested it can sometimes be best to close a facility “down for two years and do what needs to be done.”
The work session with supervisors was the first since Nigel Fields was appointed as the park authority’s deputy director of planning. It will be his job to get projects from the planning stage to completion.
Fields told supervisors the FCPA is currently in the project-prioritization phase, determining what should be in the 2026 park bond.
That will be followed by public engagement in the spring, then votes by the Park Authority Board and Board of Supervisors to finalize the package.
Although the presentation to supervisors projected $60 million for the Audrey Moore facility and $25 million for one of the other recreation centers, specific projects might not be listed in the bond referendum. Proposing one overall $85 million expenditure for recreation centers instead would allow park officials to “figure things out” down the road, Cole said.
Although the public could potentially veto the spending by voting down the referendum, that possibility seems remote.
Fairfax County voters have approved all 14 park-bond referendums on the ballot since the first — for $4 million — was requested in 1959. In 2020, a $112 million park bond received about 72% support.
Though lamenting that the projected cost for the Audrey Moore facility has “grown so dramatically,” McKay voiced confidence in the park authority’s efforts.
“A lot of progress” has been made in meeting community goals, he said.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said that when it comes time for each of the renovation projects, it would be counterproductive to try and complete them on the cheap.
“We want to do it right,” Storck said, urging the park authority to be “building things for the future, not just today.”
Located at 8100 Braddock Road in Annandale, the 76,000-square-foot Audrey Moore Rec Center initially was known as the Wakefield Park RECenter. In 2002, it was renamed in honor of Moore, who had served 16 years as supervisor in what then was known as the Annandale District, followed by a single term (1988-91) as Board chair.
Moore died at age 89 in 2018.
The recreation facility underwent some maintenance work during the summer of 2022, as the more extensive renovation and expansion project was delayed by the need for additional funding to accommodate rising construction costs, among other factors.
The draft 2026 park bond also includes $55.5 million for deferred capital maintenance, $8 million for natural and cultural resources, $18 million for new park projects, $3 million for minor new construction and $10.5 million for land acquisition.
