Long Bridge Park | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published July 31, 2015 at 9:30AM

Fire Station Relocation May Go to Voters — A controversial plan to relocate Fire Station 8 from Lee Highway and the Hall’s Hill neighborhood to a locale further north, in order to improve response times, could be put to voters. Opponents may push for a stand-alone bond issue for construction of the new fire station, which would put it on the ballot. The idea was floated during a well-attended community meeting on the fire station relocation plan last night. [InsideNova]

North vs. South Swimming Pool Divide? — Swimming has always been a significant part of life in Arlington, but current pool options are tilted toward north Arlington, says Our Man in Arlington columnist Charlie Clark. Building the stalled Long Bridge Park aquatics center could help alleviate the divide, Clark reasons. [Falls Church News-Press]

Events

Long Bridge Park to Host Celebration, ACPD to Close Roads on Fourth of July

By Mariah Joyce

Published June 29, 2015 at 3:45PM

Fourth of July fireworks, as seen from the Air Force Memorial (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

The food, games and live music being offered at the park from 5-10 p.m. should keep attendees busy as they wait for the fireworks at the National Mall. The schedule of free activities includes moon bounces, face painting, hula hoop contests, drop-in kickball and cornhole.

Three local bands will play at the park leading up to the fireworks display. The lineup kicks off with DJ Freedom at 5:15 p.m., self-styled “Caribbean musical powerhouse” The Image Band is scheduled to go on at 6:20 and cover band ForTheWin will take the stage at 8.

News

County Board to Vote on Two Playgrounds

By Heather Mongilio

Published June 10, 2015 at 2:00PM

The board will vote to approve construction contracts for two playground projects — one at Long Bridge Park and one at Tyrol Hills Park — on Saturday.

The Long Bridge Park playground will be located at the south end of the park by 6th Street. If approved, it is expected to cost just under $1.1 million to construct. All told, with design and project management costs factored in, it comes with a $1,324,300 price tag.

News

County Seeks Public Input on Long Bridge Aquatics Center’s Future

By Ethan Rothstein

Published March 18, 2015 at 11:00AM

On Tuesday the Arlington County Board charged County Manager Barbara Donnellan — and, after June, interim County Manager Mark Schwartz — with undertaking a broad public input process and coming back with recommendations for the aquatics center and the second phase of the Long Bridge Park project in January 2016.

The Board that hears the recommendations and moves forward with the park’s second phase of construction will lack the current chair and vice chair, Mary Hynes and Walter Tejada, who are retiring at the end of the year.

News

Arlington Throws Support Behind D.C. Olympic Bid

By Ethan Rothstein

Published September 4, 2014 at 11:35AM | Updated September 4, 2014 at 12:16PM

Arlington’s support of the bid appears based largely around its currently-stalled plans to build an Olympic-quality aquatics facility at Long Bridge Park, which Arlington expects to be a candidate for the location of the swimming and diving events if D.C. is chosen as the host city.

“Back in June, when we suspended construction plans for Phase 2 of Long Bridge Park, which will include the Aquatics, Health and Fitness Facility, we noted that we expected the park to be part of the plan for bringing the Olympics to the Washington Region,” Fisette said in a press release. “That is still our hope. We believe that Long Bridge could be a great venue for Olympic swimming events.”

Events

Road Closures in Arlington for Fourth of July

By Morgan Fecto

Published July 3, 2014 at 3:30PM

Fourth of July fireworks, as seen from the Air Force Memorial (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

Several roads in Arlington, including some major arteries, will be closed to drivers for Independence Day celebrations tomorrow.

Memorial Bridge and Memorial Circle will be closed all day, from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. From 1:00 to 11:00 p.m., Marshall Drive will be closed from Route 110 to N. Meade Street, and Meade Street will be closed from Marshall Drive to 14th Street N.

Events

Long Bridge Park to Again Host July 4th Celebration

By Ethan Rothstein

Published June 27, 2014 at 1:15PM

Fourth of July fireworks, as seen from the Air Force Memorial (Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman)

The event will run from 4:00 to 10:00 p.m. and it includes more than just a great view across the Potomac River for the fireworks on the National Mall.

From 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., there will be free drop-in kickball, where players can jump in a game and play, and there will be a kickball home run derby at 7:00 p.m., all on Field 1. Other activities include face painting, balloon art, a moon bounce, cornhole, bocce ball, ring toss, ladder golf and duckpin bowling.

News

Bids Canceled for Aquatics Center As County Seeks Private Funds

By ARLnow.com

Published June 5, 2014 at 3:30PM

(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) Arlington will not award a contract for construction of the Long Bridge Park Aquatics, Health and Fitness Facility, delaying the project for at least a year, the county announced this afternoon.

The decision to cancel the bids for the facility follows an effort by County Manager Barbara Donnellan and her staff to work with construction companies to “value engineer” the project and lower costs. The bids initially came in well above the level necessary to keep the aquatics center within its original $79 million projected cost. Even with cheaper furnishings and other cut corners, however, we’re told the revised cost estimate “got close but not close enough.”

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: When Did an Aquatics Center Become a Need?

By ARLnow.com

Published January 25, 2014 at 2:45PM | Updated January 25, 2014 at 3:17PM

The following was sent in response to last week’s letter to the editor, “The Case for Long Bridge Park Phase 2.”

I am an Arlington resident and have been for 15 years. I would like to respond to Eric Cassel, President Friends of Long Bridge Park. First he makes the case that the target audience for this lavish facility is increasing in Arlington County. Target audience? Elementary school age children — I have lived in six states while I was growing up. In not one state was there a swimming facility for us to learn how to swim. How did this become a necessity for elementary school children? At what point did “we” decide that my elementary schooling when I was a child was lacking?

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: The Case for Phase 2 of Long Bridge Park

By ARLnow.com

Published January 18, 2014 at 12:00PM

With construction bids well exceeding the $80 million projected cost — of just the first phase of the aquatics and fitness center project, also referred to as Phase 2 of Long Bridge Park — critics says it’s too grand a project for Arlington County, with its eroding commercial tax base. However, supporters say it’s well worth the investment.

Here’s a Letter to the Editor from Eric Cassel, President of the Friends of Long Bridge Park organization.

News

Downsize or Die for Aquatics and Fitness Center?

By ARLnow.com

Published January 9, 2014 at 1:00PM | Updated January 9, 2014 at 1:44PM

The project, which was at one point supposed to be under construction by now, is on hold as a result of contractor bids well exceeding the $79.3 million budgeted for the first phase of construction. The county has yet to reveal exactly how high the bids were.

Last night, meanwhile, Arlington County officially acknowledged that a 2012 estimate of the facility’s operating deficit — $1.9 million in Fiscal Year 2020 — has doubled to an annual deficit of $3.8 million. That excludes the cost of running the existing facilities at Long Bridge Park.

News

DEVELOPING: Long Bridge Aquatics Center on Hold Due to Rising Costs

By ARLnow.com

Published January 3, 2014 at 6:35PM | Updated January 3, 2014 at 6:59PM

Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan announced late Friday afternoon that construction bids for the first phase of the Long Bridge Park aquatics center came in “significantly higher” than the $79.3 million projected cost. As a result, Donnellan says she will not be recommending a construction contract for County Board approval in early 2014, as planned.

Donnellan said it was “disappointing” that the bids far exceeded the estimate provided by its architect, which was in turn backed up by a third-party firm.