More details emerge on future Annandale Civic Space

Community residents got a chance to explore the plans for the future Annandale Civic Space at a virtual meeting June 29. 

The new park will be at 7200 Columbia Pike between the ACCA Child Development Center and the Annandale Volunteer Fire Department. 

Staff from the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization and the county Park Authority described the plans for the civic space: 

• A section of the existing ACCA parking lot could be used for popup activities during weekends when the parking lot is not in use, such as a marketplace, community movie night, or fitness activities. A mural is proposed for the ACCA wall. 

• The existing plaza area, a few steps up from the parking lot, would become a “civic plaza” with seating and enhanced landscaping. That area could be used for outdoor classes, garden clubs, or other gatherings. Regrading would make that area ADA accessible. 

• A green area behind the plaza would be used for a children’s educational garden with a shed to store tools. Children could learn about the environment, wildlife, and stewardship.

• The open space between the plaza and Daniels Avenue would become a “great lawn,” with room for picnics; pickup soccer, bocce ball, or frisbee; and a “topography playground” where children could climb on small mounds. The crumbling basketball court in that area would be removed. 

• New paths would surround the Great Lawn and would provide connections to Columbia Pike and Daniels Avenue. Bollards with lighting would improve safety along the paths. 

“This has been an interesting project from the beginning,” said Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross. “It has grown to be something more than anticipated. It’s going to be wonderful.” 

There is no timeline for when development of the Annandale Civic Space can start, however, said Laura Baker, revitalization program manager in Fairfax County’s Community Revitalization Section. 

Related story: Pop-Up Park hosts Community Day during the Taste of Annandale

The ballpark cost estimate is $600,000 to $650,000, and while the county has funded some of the planning costs, it has to identify additional funding sources before construction can begin. 

The next steps include finalizing the rough grading plan for county review, preparing construction documents, developing a budget, and identifying grants and other funding options. 

Planning for the civic space started in 2018 with a community visioning process. Several popup community events were held in the park during the summer of 2019 and during the Taste of Annandale in October 2019. 

Adam Wynne, a landscape architect with the Park Authority said many of the trees on the property and along Daniels Avenue will have to be replaced because they are dead, unsafe, in ill health, or invasive. 

Wynne listed some of the new native trees that could be planted: red maple, American hornbeam, American elm, sweetbay magnolia, and river birch. Other native plants that would work well in the park include American holly, Pennsylvania sedge, red twig dogwood, wild hydrangea, shamrock holly, switchgrass, and fragrant sumac.