Plans take shape for Annandale civic space

A community event focusing on the arts at the Annandale Pop-Up Park in May 2019.

Plans are moving forward on the creation of a civic space on Columbia Pike in central
Annandale. 

This park, located between the ACCA Child Development Center and the Annandale Fire Station, isn’t going to be constructed, however, until a funding source is found. 

Laura Baker, a planner with the community revitalization section in the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development, described the project at a virtual meeting of the Mason District Land Use Committee Oct. 27.

Related story: Fun and fitness at Annandale’s Pop-Up Park

The civic space consists of a section of the CDC parking lot, an elevated concrete plaza area behind the parking lot, and an open field behind that.

The county began planning for a small park in that space about five years ago. It hosted a pop-up park at the Taste of Annandale in 2016 and subsequent years to show the community how a small section of an underutilized parking lot could become a temporary gathering space.

The plaza area at the Pop-Up Park in Annandale.

In 2018, the county began a community outreach effort that included a demonstration park, surveys, and a design charette. 

There were several themed events at the site during the summer of 2019, culminating in a community day at the Pop-Up Park during the Taste of Annandale last October. 

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

Based on community input, county staff, in collaboration with the Fairfax County Park Authority, came up with a design concept for the new civic space that focuses on nature, flexibility, and open space where
people could connect with one another.  

The design has four primary areas:

• The parking lot would be an event space when the CDC isn’t
  open, on weekends and evenings. That area would be enhanced with ambient
  lighting and a mural on the CDC building “to celebrate pride in Annandale and
  its history and culture,” Baker said.
• The plaza area would have seating, tables, landscaping, and
  an ADA-accessible path into the open park space at the back of the site.
• A children’s educational garden would have native species
  and natural habitat for wildlife.
• The largest section, a half-acre great lawn, would have
  benches and would be encircled by a sidewalk. This area could be used for
  picnics, croquet, pickup soccer, and a place for kids to run around. It could also be accessed from Daniels Avenue.

A rock-painting activity at the Pop-Up Park

The county has some seed money to hire a consultant for an engineering study, but construction hasn’t been funded. Baker estimates the cost would be $600,000 to $650,000.

The project is scheduled to be presented to the Planning Commission in November, but because it’s on county-owned land, it goes through a 2232 process and doesn’t need a public hearing.