Fairfax City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night (April 28) to move forward with a plan for construction of a combined $127.2 million Willard-Sherwood Health and Community Center.
The city government will cover about $54 million in construction costs, with the Fairfax County government paying the rest. The two will also split operating costs once the facility opens, based on usage rates.
Last October, three City Council members voted to oppose moving forward on the project, citing costs both of construction and future operation. Cost-control efforts in the intervening six months led the three — Stacy Hall, Rachel McQuillen and Thomas Peterson — to back the final proposal.
“That [October] vote didn’t stop the project, but it sent a clear signal: We needed to do better on affordability,” Peterson said at the April 28 meeting.
“This is not about cutting corners,” Peterson said. “It’s about doing the work to make the project stronger and financially responsible.”
Brooke Hardin, the city’s director of community development and planning, said efforts had been made to “control costs and reduce them wherever possible, while maintaining the desired physical components of the project,” which will occupy the 3700 block of Blenheim Road.
“Similar attention has been paid to the operating costs associated with the project after it’s occupied,” Hardin said.
According to city officials, revisions made during project development will reduce the net financial impact to a typical city homeowner t0 $316 annually — down 55% from initial projections.
“I think we’re in a lot more comfortable place now” on costs, Councilmember Anthony Amos said.
The three-year project calls for the demolition of the 30,000-square-foot Joseph Willard Health Center and its replacement with a 100,000-square-foot health and community center serving both county and city residents. There will be two levels of underground parking, plus site improvements.
The new facility would be connected by a pedestrian bridge to the existing Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center.
The facility will incorporate city services currently housed at the city’s Green Acres Center, including recreation classes, community meeting rooms and the Young at Heart Senior Center. Those programs will remain open at the existing facility until the project is completed.
The new facility will also include a preschool program, which city leaders say is a major step forward.
Immediately after voting to move forward with the project, council members requested that the city’s Economic Development Authority move forward with the sale of $22 million in bonds. It will be the first of an expected three-stage bond sale to finance the city’s portion of the project.
Council members opted not to include a $4 million renovation of existing performing arts facilities at the Sherwood Community Center as part of the project. According to Hardin, leaving the upgrade out of this plan doesn’t preclude it from being conducted at a later time.
Early planning for the joint project had included consideration of a full-fledged performing arts space, but cost projections of around $25 million scuttled that idea.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is slated to vote next Tuesday, May 5, on moving forward with the joint project. County voters approved a $58 million bond referendum in 2020 to support the construction plan.
Council votes to issue school bonds
Also at the April 28 meeting, the Fairfax City Council voted 6-0 to authorize the sale of $22 million in general obligation bonds for school projects approved by voters in 2024.
The proceeds will be used with other funding to support renovations at Providence and Daniels Run elementary schools and a roof replacement at Fairfax High School.
Council members authorized staff to move forward with either a competitive or negotiated bond sale, or a combination.
Voters approved the bond sale in a November 2024 referendum, with 70% voting in favor.
Under an agreement between the city and county, Fairfax County Public Schools provides instruction under contract at the city’s schools, but the city is responsible for capital improvements to educational facilities in its boundaries.
