Board to Award Contract for Rocky Run Park Improvements

(Updated at 10:20 a.m.) Nearly $3 million worth of improvements are coming soon to Rocky Run Park, at 1109 N. Barton Street in the Courthouse-Clarendon area.

The Arlington County Board on Saturday is expected to award a $2.95 million contract to Meridian Construction Co. to build the first phase of the new park, which has been in the works since 2010. Funding for the improvements is coming from 2010 Neighborhood Conservation funds, park bond funds and park pay-as-you-go funds.

The finished 2.4 acre park is expected to feature the following amenities:

• One lighted basketball/volleyball court
• One lighted basketball/futbol sala court
• A lighted synthetic grass multipurpose field with bleachers
• A sandbox and two play areas
• A picnic shelter, picnic tables and benches
• A skateboarding area with “skate-able art”
• A “raised boardwalk”
• Bicycle parking
• Drainage improvements

Per a neighborhood request, the volleyball court will have a net installed by default, which must be removed by park staff in order for basketball to be played. The courts and the multipurpose field will be lighted with dark sky compliant “Green Generation” lighting which will shut off after 10:00 p.m.

The skate-able art will be constructed as part of a second phase of park construction, funded with 2012 Neighborhood Conservation funds.

In the Board report, county staff said the final price tag of the park increased by $850,000 due to extra costs associated with making the park Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

Construction on Phase I of the park is expected to begin this winter. No word yet on when construction is expected to wrap up.