New ‘pop-up park’ brings the community together

Master Gardeners from the Virginia Cooperative Extension hand out free tomato plants.

Annandale’s newest park, a small “pop-up park” on Columbia Pike between the fire station and the ACCA Child Development Center, opened for the public June 29 for the first of several scheduled events.

Kevin Holland of the Hidden Oaks Nature Center brought a monarch habitat, toad, tobacco hornworms, and other wildlife to the pop-up park.

There were games, wildlife from the Hidden Oaks Nature Center, an outdoor piano, scavenger hunt, and displays and giveaways from several county departments.

A family checks out the exhibit from the Annandale Volunteer Fire Department.

The pop-up park was created on unused county-owned land to add a bit of vibrancy to central Annandale and help advance the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization’s vision to make Annandale a walkable community with a network of public gathering spaces.

A chess game in a shady corner.

To prepare for the opening of the pop-up park, Boy Scouts and other local residents took part in a clean-up day last month.

The Fairfax County Transportation Department shares resources on bicycling.

The next events at the pop-up park will be Arts Day on July 27, 5-8 p.m., and Fitness and Fun Day on Aug. 24, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

The last pop-up park event of the season will be on Oct. 5, during the Taste of Annandale community festival.