Public invited to the grand opening of a new park in Annandale

The community is invited to the grand opening of the Eileen Garnett Civic Space on Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

The new park, at 7200 Columbia Pike in Annandale, is located between the ACCA Child Development Center and the Annandale Fire Station.

The opening celebration will feature a ribbon cutting and welcoming remarks by county officials at 10 and family-friendly activities at 10:30.

The park, a joint project by the Fairfax County Planning and Development Department’s Community Revitalization Section and the Park Authority, was previously known as the Annandale Civic Space. It was renamed for Eileen Garnett in September in recognition of her longtime advocacy for revitalizing Annandale.

Related story: New park to be named for Eileen Garnett

Garnett founded the Annandale Central Business District Revitalization Committee in 1984 and was on an inspection tour with committee members on May 20, 2022. They were in a parking lot on Maple Place showing county and VDOT officials where streetlights, sidewalks, and landscaping needed to be repaired when a driver lost control and crashed into them. Garnett died from her injuries a few days later.

The new park, less than an acre in size, includes a civic plaza, an educational garden, a “great lawn,” and an accessible path. The parking lot will be used for popup programming.

Planning for the park started in 2018 when the Community Revitalization Section began considering how best to use the county-owned property in central Annandale and launched a community engagement process. In 2019, several pop-up events were held on the site.