The Town of Vienna will throw back to the 1960s next week to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its community center.
The decade remembered nationally for the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and NASA’s Apollo space program, among other historical events, will be the theme of an open house hosted by the Vienna Parks and Recreation Department on April 17 to mark the milestone.
“Attendees can take a walk down memory lane with self-guided tours, a photo memory wall, giveaways, and a chance to share their own stories from the past 60 years,” the town said in a press release.
The festivities at 120 Cherry Street SE will last from 4-7 p.m. and include a ceremonial cake cutting at 4:30 p.m.
Originally opened and dedicated in 1966, the Vienna Community Center was the first facility of its kind in Northern Virginia to offer activities serving all age groups, according to the Town of Vienna.
The idea for the center took root in 1946, with the Vienna Lions Club contributing the first $1,500 for a grassroots fundraising campaign. Per the town, it took nearly 20 years for the campaign to raise the $125,000 needed to build a community center on the 2.6-acre site on Cherry Street.
Though the community center still occupies the same spot, it has undergone renovations and expansions over the years. The most recent and substantial transformation was completed in September 2017, adding a full-sized gymnasium, a new lobby and restrooms, and refurbished classrooms.
While much of the nearly 43,000-square-foot building’s exterior and internal systems were overhauled, some of the original brick walls were preserved.
The approximately $13 million project turned the Vienna Community Center into a more modern hub for town services, educational and social programs, recreational activities, and events, though some expressed disappointment initially that a swimming pool envisioned by a feasibility study proved cost-prohibitive.
Dreams of a public swimming pool remain alive after residents showed support for an aquatics and fitness center on the former Vienna Faith Baptist Church site at 301 Center Street South. But yard signs that have cropped up in recent months denouncing the proposal as a “small pool, big cost” suggest that, nearly a decade later, the price tag might still be a deal breaker.
