Some teenage volunteers in Vienna have teamed up with a national nonprofit to show their support for American military service members.

The town’s Club Phoenix Teen Council launched a donation drive this week to collect clothes, non-perishable food and other items that will be assembled into care packages for military troops serving around the world.

Donations will be accepted through March 7 at the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street SE), the town announced on Wednesday (Feb. 28) in a press release. Wanted items include:

• New socks and undershirts
• Non-perishable food items such as beef jerky, canned tuna, or dried fruit
• Hygiene items such as body wipes, hand sanitizer, and sunscreen
• Other common supplies like pens, books, or journals.

The teen council is a volunteer program in Club Phoenix, the town-run teen center that offers after-school programs and services to students in sixth through 12th grade. The council consists of nine members in seventh through 12th grade.

To organize the donation drive, the council has partnered with the nonprofit HeroBox, which aims to “provide physical and emotional support” to deployed service members, according to its website.

Designed to give the council members volunteering experience, the initiative builds on a letter-writing campaign that Club Phoenix conducted during the recent winter holiday season with A Million Thanks, another nonprofit dedicated to supporting members of the military.

“We wanted to continue supporting them, so we teamed up with HeroBox, an organization that helps
troops year-round,” Ianna Alhambra, the town’s after school program coordinator, said.

According to the Town of Vienna, the teen council hopes to collect enough donations to “fill at least 20 medium size USPS care packages for 20 military personnel with 15-20 items per package.”

Items can be dropped off at the community center’s lobby on Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday from 12-6 p.m. The Club Phoenix Teen Center, which is located in the community center’s basement, will also accept donations from 2:30-6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 2:30-9 p.m. on Fridays.

Anything is possible for Vienna’s former Faith Baptist Church site — anything within the financial reach of a town whose annual budget comes in under $50 million, that is.

The 3-acre property at 301 Center Street South was a “godsend” for the town, hitting the market just as the search for a temporary home for the Vienna Police Department was becoming urgent, Councilmember Ed Somers said during a town council work session on March 28.

With the two-year project to build a new police station now in its second year, town officials are starting to contemplate what to do with the church property after the police move out.

“There’s not going to be new property in town, so this is kind of a special opportunity,” Town Manager Mercury Payton said at the work session. “…It could be something unique that would help further define who we are as Vienna.”

The most likely course of action appears to be a parks and recreation facility, which could mean adapting the existing building into a community center annex, as proposed by town staff, or clearing the site for a new ballfield or outdoor ampitheater.

Councilmember Nisha Patel floated a beer garden as a hypothetical possibility that the community could suggest outside the parks and rec umbrella, noting that “you don’t want to have a closed mind.”

Finance Director Marion Serfass suggested including a public survey in the next water bill mailings. Mayor Linda Colbert encouraged staff to use different methods to ensure all residents get a chance to weigh in, while other council members emphasized a need to control expectations of what’s feasible.

“It’s actually pretty exciting to go to the community and say, ‘What do you want to do?'” Payton said.

Annex proposed as short-term plan

Any long-term plan for the church property likely won’t come to fruition for another 10 to 15 years due to the length of the planning, design, and construction process and how long it will take sufficient funding to become available under the town’s debt model for capital projects, Payton told the council.

To prevent the building from sitting vacant for the next decade, the Parks and Recreation Department presented a plan to utilize the property — informally dubbed the Annex — for classrooms, event rentals, and recreational programming.

The church has offices that could host classes and meetings as well as a gymnasium and a stage in the sanctuary that could support artistic performances, according to Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman.

“We do have a big demand, and there are limitations to the community center,” Herman said. “When we had the renovation done [in 2017]…it added a gym. It didn’t add additional classroom space, so we’re still limited to what we can do there.”

However, converting the church into a recreational facility even temporarily could potentially cost $1 million, a study contracted by the town found.

An estimated $400,000 is required just to meet the building and fire code standards necessary to obtain an occupancy permit from Fairfax County. Other possible expenses include asbestos testing, roof repairs, and facility upgrades, such as an elevator to the second level and new floor to make the stage suitable for theatrical and dance performances.

On top of that, town staff estimated that the Annex would carry $229,000 in operational costs per year, while only bringing in about $214,000 in revenue from class and rental fees.

While staff reported that the town already has about $500,000 available to use for the church, including $300,000 from this year’s capital improvements bond, council members balked at the price tag for a temporary fix.

“Without knowing what we want to do with the property, asking for $1 million as a band-aid until we figure it out, I think, is not a wise use of taxpayer dollars,” Patel said.