Interim park planned for Bailey’s Crossroads
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| The Landmark Building is being torn down. |
The area around the former Landmark Building on Columbia Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads will be transformed into an “interim park” with temporary recreational facilities.
Demolition of that building is expected to be completed by the end of September.
The property was acquired by Fairfax County last year as part of a land swap with the Weissberg Corp., which now owns the adjacent land – between the Landmark property and Moncure Avenue – where it plans to build the Columbia Crossroads apartment complex.
Fairfax County is considering constructing a human services facility on the Landmark site, but is also considering reusing other buildings for that purpose, Joan Beacham, the project coordinator with the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, said at an Aug. 21 meeting of the Bailey’s Crossroads/Seven Corners Revitalization Corporation.
The interim park would be in place for about five years, until the county develops the property.
Suzie Bautista, a park planner with the Fairfax County Park Authority, said development of the park would start in spring 2019, and it would be completed next summer. Mason Supervisor Penny Gross plans to ask the Board of Supervisors to approve $100,000 in carryover funds in the county budget to cover the cost of the project. The board will vote on that request Sept. 25.
The park would have modular features for active recreation – such as a skate area or basketball court – that could be relocated to another temporary park in the future, Bautista says. There would also be areas for passive recreation, such as picnic tables, a stage area with seating, and a shaded area for community gatherings.
Bautista envisions the park facilities having bright, fun colors, and playful elements. The existing parking lot at the rear of the property with 75 spaces would be retained. Low-level lighting would be installed for security at night.
The park could be used for temporary events, such as a mobile farmers market or food truck festival. A pedestrian entrance gate could be installed at the rear of the property if the residents of the Ellery Place townhouses want it.
How unfortunate. It was always envisioned as a vibrant mixed use center and now it will be park for the homeless and vagrants to occupy. Prime real estate squandered, what a shame. Its just another example of poor county leadership and evidence that developers are staying away from Mason.
Demolishing a blighted building and replacing it with a park is now considered bad? This is a step in the right direction. The development is coming. In fact, there are at present plans for significant development of Lincolnia and I have personally served as chair of a citizen's task force working with the county to facilitate the progress. Please remain patient, development takes take but the results are very satisfying.
Mosaic planning started over 15 years ago and it is still under construction. https://annandaleva.blogspot.com/2017/02/task-force-to-focus-on-future-of.html
Ill probably be dead or hopefully retired to an area that is more accommodating to people who enjoy places like Mosaic. Bailey's has been a mess for over 20 years. There is no excuse other than the lack of engaged leadership and competence.
Thanks Daren. Beautifying Baileys is gonna require planning and work by a devoted few, just like Mosaic did. Unfortunately any effort to improve our lot seems to aggravate those who will never devote themselves to the public good but would rather bitch and whine.
we're all hoping you leave too
Well I wont leave Adam until there is a bronze statue erected of you and me holding hands.
sounds awesome
i look forward to the Walgreens that ends up there in the end
Unfortunately, all these negative comments are accurate and warranted !
I suspect in five years people will forget the "interim" part and demand their green space not be touched for unfettered development.
Dale and Adam, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Unfortunately, some of the commenters on this site (and others) are determined to be displeased with nearly everything. I'll bet they never wrote a decent thank-you note in their lives–and never will. Lordy, how lonely and bitter they must be!
I agree, some folks will snipe at anything. Green space or county facility would be great for the long term. We don't need to 'develop' every square inch of the county into commercial property, in fact we need to have more green, and a lot of county facilities, especially new one, that are not parks are in fact very 'park-like' and are good neighbors.
An urban park works best when there is density. Look at the new water park on Columbia Pike at the new Giant in Arlington. It is very successful as well as the urban park at Mosaic in front of the theater. Although I love parks this is just not a great place for one unless its tied into something bigger such as mixed use and retail. A govt center would be closed after 5pm, leaving the park at this side of Baileys dead and potentially dangerous. There needs to be dynamic uses in place such as retail, offices (could be govt), housing, a sport center, and perhaps a park too, to make this all successful. Plopping a stand alone park is going to create more problems than you may think. Ask any urban planner and you will get same answer. The problem in this county is they dont ask, and when they do they listen. Because PG knows everything.
There is a typo: "The problem in this county is they dont ask, and when they do they listen." It should have read "The problem in this county is they dont ask the experts, and when they do they never listen to them." And I'm not talking about the hacks in the FFX County Planning Dept. If Penny Gross says the sky is poka dotted, then the sky is poka dotted. Sort of like someone we know in the Whitehouse. Because PG knows everying. And that is why Mason is not being considered for development. PG you cant blame a poor economy now. Its your poor leadership.
Mason District Park is highly successful. Not like sure what you mean by Planning Hacks, dear anonymous. Have you met anyone from planning? Have you read any of the comprehensive plan literature? Obviously not. And development is still economically driven. Development takes time, a lot of time. Remain patient; the general direction of Mason District is positive.
Cranes blooming everywhere except Mason. Mason Park was designed as a park not plopped because developers ran away from another deal that PG had foiled. Mason Park is not in an area designated as Mixed Use or Commercial. The comprehensive plan for Baileys calls for Mixed Use, not a welfare social Penny Palace and a Penny Park.
I better comparison would be Gateway Regional Park which has been taken over by the homeless. Baileys has had problems with homeless squatting from the areas around the shelter and the green at the corner of Columbia Pike & Leesburg Pike which saw numerous clean ups and was finally closed when the county cut down most of the trees and accompanying shrubbery.
Unless I"m missing something, this park will have a minimum if. if any, "green space"
The whole sage of this site has been incredible from the start: the County paying twice the originally assessed value of the Landmark property to a land owner who happened to be a generous campaign donor to the fiasco of relocating the existing shelter.
Let's hope this story will have a better ending than beginning.
Good Lord. A park for the homeless, the ones that are currently living on the hill by the soaps and suds/underpass? Or those from the actual homeless shelter 1 block away. Maybe the people from the lacy's liquor store or the faux 7-11 store cant hang out there too. I know where we can buy our crack from now. This is just crazy to me! This lacks ANY common sense.
I love Penny Gross, but I am tired of us being in the dark ages. Have you seen Fair Lakes. Their grass in the mediums is cut and have flower that are there all summer. Not just a few weeks. I have to call and fight with the county to get them to clean up the mediums and cut down dead trees. Do you know that the corner of Columbia Pike and Sleepy Hollow is a park. It is so overgrown, you cannot see the sign. Pokemon has a gym in that park. Kids are climbing in there to find Pokemon. You will never find a park like that at the Government Center area.