Entering the multipurpose room at the Vienna Community Center last Friday afternoon (April 17) was like stepping into a time capsule.
For an open house to celebrate the facility’s 60th anniversary, the Town of Vienna’s Parks and Recreation Department set up displays on one side of the room covered with nostalgia-triggering newspaper clippings and photographs, many of them provided by local residents.
On the other side of the room, a table offered up 1960s-era candy like Sweet Tarts, Chuckles and 100 Grand chocolate bars, provided for free by the local food assistance nonprofit One Neighborhood Foundation. Non-edible throwback giveaways were available as well, including dominos, bags of marbles and coasters resembling vinyl records.
“We hope to celebrate not just the building, but the people and memories,” Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman said, kicking off a ceremonial portion of the event that concluded with a cake cutting.
According to the town, the community center was the first facility of its kind in Northern Virginia to provide programming for all ages when it opened in April 1966. The dedication ceremony was attended by local, state and federal elected officials, and featured a musical performance by the James Madison High School Madrigals.
The journey to that ribbon-cutting was a long one, started in 1946 by the Vienna Lions Club.
“They started thinking Vienna needed something to provide leisure activities,” Mayor Linda Colbert said.
The civic organization contributed the first $1,500 to a fundraising campaign that ultimately generated $125,000 to plan and build the community center. The funds came together over nearly two decades, often through small events like car washes organized by a dedicated committee, according to Colbert.
Initially, the town considered building the center on the 11-acre lot now occupied by Glyndon Park, but the current site at 120 Cherry Street SE won out.
Coupled with the additions of Northside and Southside parks, which were in the works on former sewage treatment plant sites, the Vienna Community Center arrived at a time when the town was expanding its recreational options. Early activities included preschool programs, roller skating, teen dances, and sewing, bridge and art classes for both youth and adults, according to town newsletters from 1966.
As a resident of Vienna since her family moved to the town in 1968, Colbert observed that she “can’t imagine a time without the community center.” In addition to highlighting the importance of theater to the center, which is still home to the Vienna Theatre Players and Vienna Youth Players, the mayor fondly recalled attending Fourth of July festivities that once included “grease pole climbs.”
She singled out former Vienna Town Council member Bob Dix for recognition, noting that his father had donated to the community center and he led efforts to introduce All Night Grad parties for newly graduated high school seniors in the late 1980s. In the 1990s, he advocated for the town to establish a separate teen center, now known as Club Phoenix.
Dix, who was present at the open house, also served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and was president of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. He has also been credited for shepherding the town’s annual ViVa Vienna! festival.
“Bob has a lot of history and contributed so much to Vienna,” Colbert said.
The mayor finished her remarks by reading a recognition of the community center’s 60th anniversary submitted for the Congressional record by Rep. James Walkinshaw, who couldn’t attend the open house.
In his recognition, Walkinshaw, who was elected to represent the 11th Congressional District that includes Vienna last year, lauded the town’s community center as “a historic landmark” that has remained a valuable resource for local residents through multiple renovations, most recently in 2017:
“Today, the Vienna Community Center continues to serve as a gathering place where neighbors connect, families participate in programs, and community traditions are built and sustained. Its enduring presence reflects the values of collaboration, civic engagement, and community pride that define the Town of Vienna.”
A representative from Del. Holly Seibold’s office (D-12) also read a resolution congratulating the town that will be presented to the Virginia General Assembly.
Colbert encouraged the open house’s attendees to take a tour of the community center, whose amenities include meeting rooms, an auditorium, a kitchen and two gymnasiums. Just outside the center, visitors can find the Waters and Caffi fields as well as the Washington & Old Dominion Trail.
“The whole thing is just one big adventure and very, very fun,” she said.
