Advocates for the shuttered Lee Community Center are making a last-minute bid to include renovation funding in the county’s updated capital improvement plan.
Jean Henceroth, president of the Leeway Overlee Civic Association, said $10 million in funding would allow for the upgrades needed to reopen the facility.
Having saved the Cherrydale Library from closing, advocates now want the county government to address the building’s accessibility issues.
Making upgrades to reach Americans with Disabilities Act standards “will allow the library to better serve the neighborhood and the county, and strengthen its long-term viability,” said Michael Gessel, president of Citizens for Cherrydale Library, at a public hearing on the proposed FY27-36 capital improvement plan.
The county government is readying for major expansion of Penrose Square, with funding to start flowing in about three years — an effort bringing accolades from several Columbia Pike organizations.
County Manager Mark Schwartz has included $4.27 million in funding for fiscal 2030 in his proposed 10-year capital improvement plan (CIP) set for a final County Board vote in mid-July.
School Board members have increased spending estimates for renovations to Thomas Jefferson Middle School, seeking to strike a balance between different proposals.
Board members voted 5-0 on June 18 to adopt the school system’s fiscal 2027-36 capital improvement plan, setting the stage for an $80 million school-bond referendum in the fall and future referendums down the road.
Significant divisions appear to remain among School Board members on the scope of a planned renovation and addition to Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
Three design concepts — with costs of $130 million, $140 million and $168 million — are still on the table, while at least one School Board member has not given up on the possibility of a complete replacement.
Arlington school leaders have more work to do in sketching out how they might use public-private partnerships to construct new facilities in an era of fiscal constraints.
Superintendent Francisco Durán’s proposed fiscal 2027-36 capital improvement plan, unveiled May 14, makes reference to potential future partnerships to help defray costs of constructing and maintaining new facilities.
A divided School Board last Thursday backed a 22% cut in the anticipated future cost of a renovation/expansion project at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, but left the door open to more discussion.
The 3-1 vote, with one abstention, reduces the cost estimate to $130 million, from an initial $168 million proposed by Superintendent Francisco Durán and staff.
New restroom facilities at Gunston Park are expected to cost around $1 million — a grand total arising from the price of materials, installation and associated costs.
County officials present the cost as a financial win for taxpayers, even if not everyone sees it that way.
County voters are likely to see nearly a quarter-billion dollars spread over five local bond referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Revenues from future bond sales would support County Manager Mark Schwartz’s proposed new 10-year, $4.3 billion capital improvement plan, unveiled on Tuesday evening.
Superintendent Francisco Durán has laid out a quarter-billion-dollar plan to renovate and expand two middle schools.
Downplaying concerns that the projects could crowd out needed improvements at other buildings, Durán on Thursday night described plans for Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Swanson Middle School. They include the following.
Plans for a four-sports-field complex on the campus of Kenmore Middle School have started working their way through the county government’s advisory process.
One of the key challenges still to be worked through as the process moves forward: How to manage parking issues around the new facility.
Impassioned discussion surrounded a split Arlington School Board vote on Thursday to approve a $570 million Capital Improvement Plan for the next decade.
At issue in the 3-2 vote on the 2025-2034 CIP were disagreements over Arlington Public Schools debt service as well as a plan to relocate the Montessori Public School of Arlington (MPSA) to the current Career Center building.
