Fairfax City officials and some of their Fairfax County colleagues gathered Wednesday (Sept. 30) to kick off an expected three years of construction of the future Willard-Sherwood Health & Community Center.
Built on the Blenheim Blvd site long occupied by the Joseph Willard Health Center, the new 100,000-square-foot facility will serve both city and county residents with health offices and recreational programming.
“This is such a momentous day,” Fairfax City Mayor Catherine Read said at a half-hour groundbreaking ceremony.
The effort to get the $127 million facility to the start of construction represented “a labor of love,” Read said.
“So many hands touched this project. It took so many people,” she said of the city-county collaboration. “We have done great work together.”
“Meaningful projects like this take time,” said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay, who followed Read on the speakers’ podium.
The ups and downs of the project have mirrored the sometimes complicated relationship between city and county leaders through the years, McKay said.
“It’s had good days and bad days, let’s be honest,” the board chair said. “Today is a good day.”
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-11), who represented the Braddock District on the Board of Supervisors before his election to Congress last year, spent years helping to shepherd the effort to this stage.
Despite conflicts, “we built consensus between county and city leadership,” Walkinshaw said.
The 30,000-square-foot Willard Health Center building now being demolished dates to the 1950s. The new facility will be approximately three times larger, allowing for an expansion of health operations as well as a permanent home for Fairfax City’s recreational programs.
“We are so excited to bring all our services under one roof,” said Stacey Sommerfield, the city’s parks director.
The new facility will include a fitness center, full-sized gym, track, classrooms, common areas, a dedicated youth area and rooftop plaza. It also will become home to the Young at Heart Senior Center, currently located at the aging Green Acres Center.
A two-level underground garage will be sufficient to accommodate parking needs, officials said.
As the Sept. 30 kick-off ceremony unfolded, construction crews were working on demolition of the existing building. County and city officials anticipate that construction will be a three-year process:
- Utility relocation: September to December 2026
- Demolition of existing buildings: October-November 2026
- Mass excavation: winter of 2026 to spring of 2027
- Erection of the new structure: summer of 2027 to spring of 2028
- Façade, roofing, interior work: winter of 2028 to summer of 2029
- Completion and move-in: fall of 2029
Grimm + Parker is the architect on the project, with The Christman Company serving as general contractor.
Under financial agreements worked out earlier this year, the county government will pay $73.4 million in construction costs, with the city government covering the rest. The two partners will split operating costs once the facility opens.
The adjacent Stacey C. Sherwood Community Center will connect to the new facility. Operations at the community center are not being impacted by construction work.
