Wistful remembrances mingled with excitement for the future, as local elected officials, library staff and community members gave Patrick Henry Library in Vienna an early send-off over the weekend.
The 13,800-square-foot library building, which has stood at 101 Maple Avenue East since 1971, is set to be replaced this summer. When the branch reopens in about two years, it’ll feature not only expanded and upgraded facilities, but also an entirely new name — the Vienna-Carter Library.
A modern fire station to serve the growing Tysons area won the approval of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Tuesday (March 18).
“This is really an incredible facility. It’s beautiful,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said after the 9-0 vote that ended a lengthy process getting to the approval stage.
Nobody disputes that Parklawn Elementary School in Lincolnia and Coates Elementary School in the McNair area south of Herndon are severely overcrowded.
But whether to address the issue through individual boundary adjustments at the two schools this year — as proposed in a capital improvement program (CIP) approved last year — or wait for a countywide redistricting effort in 2026 is causing a fissure among Fairfax County School Board members.
Plans to build a modern fire station to serve the Tysons area took a key step forward on Wednesday night (Feb. 5).
The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a number of zoning changes for a 4.05-acre site in the 8300 block of Jones Branch Drive that will serve as the future home of firefighters and paramedics of Fire Station 29.
Fairfax County Public Schools has received the zoning changes necessary to build a future Dunn Loring Elementary School.
The unanimous vote yesterday (Tuesday) by the Board of Supervisors doesn’t mean a school will necessarily be built at the site of the current Dunn Loring Administrative Center, but a four-story building to serve nearly 1,000 students is now allowed, if the Fairfax County School Board ultimately opts to move forward.
The McLean Citizens Association (MCA) is calling for the Fairfax County School Board to delay the construction of a new Dunn Loring elementary school, arguing that the project is unnecessary given the ongoing decline in student enrollment at nearby schools.
The request comes ahead of a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting tomorrow (Feb. 4), when officials are set to hold a public hearing and vote on whether to approve the project.
Fairfax County leaders anticipate asking voters to support funding this fall for early childhood education facilities.
Details of the potential standalone bond referendum, including the proposed dollar amount and projects to be supported, will come when County Executive Bryan Hill unveils his fiscal year 2026 budget and related capital-improvement program on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Fairfax City hopes to advance its master plan for the 36-acre Van Dyck Park under an updated capital improvement program (CIP) for fiscal years 2026 to 2030.
Laid out in a master plan approved back in 2018, the upgrades at Van Dyck Park (3720 Blenheim Blvd) are the most substantial investment proposed in the CIP, which is heading to the Fairfax City Council after getting the city planning commission’s recommendation on Monday (Jan. 27).
Update: A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s order freezing federal grants and loans minutes before it was set to take effect at 5 p.m.
Earlier: Fairfax County officials are scrambling to assess how a new federal directive halting financial aid programs might impact local services and capital projects.
Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid is requesting an additional $268.3 million from the county for fiscal year 2026, with most of it going toward a 7% across-the-board pay raise for teachers and staff.
The raise, costing $213 million, is part of a newly negotiated collective bargaining agreement between the school board and the recently formed Fairfax Education Unions. Whether the county can afford it, however, is still an open question.
