A proposed redesign of Green Valley’s Drew Park expands on natural elements and things to do, while also attending to some visitors’ more urgent needs.
The draft final design for the park, located next to Drew Elementary School, includes a new fitness area next to the basketball court, an additional play area near the spray pad, barbecue grills, a picnic pavilion and raised garden beds.
The Arlington Park and Recreation Commission is seeking more funding to combat invasive species, arguing it will provide long-term cost savings.
“Invasives do not stop growing in lean budget years,” commission chair William Way said at a July 9 County Board work session on the proposed capital improvement plan (CIP).
Arlington County is seeking feedback on plans for a new park near the forthcoming east entrance to the Crystal City Metro station.
Design concepts for Metro Market Square focus mostly on pedestrians, envisioning a “promenade” with lots of plantings, seating and “entrance zones” on either end of the narrow recreation area along 18th Street S., which will contain an exterior elevator to the Metro stop.
Arlington officials are working to modernize outdoor drinking fountains in county parks, but acknowledge the effort will take time.
It could be into the 2030s before all fountains are converted to year-round use, the Park and Recreation Commission was told on June 16.
Arlington County staff are seeking another round of feedback on a master plan for Maury Park, Herselle Milliken Park and Gum Ball Park.
An open house scheduled for next Tuesday, June 16 will feature draft concepts for the Three Urban Parks Project. It follows another round of feedback last fall, during which participants shared input on changes they would like to see at the parks, all located in the Ashton Heights neighborhood near the Virginia Square Metro station.
Play is already underway, and Arlington officials on Wednesday, June 10 will celebrate the opening of a new six-court pickleball complex at Walter Reed Community Center.
It is the county’s first dedicated outdoor pickleball facility, using former multi-court space at the community center.
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.
More park space, improved traffic flow and better emergency-vehicle access are among the key desires of the Arlington View community.
Those concerns were outlined to County Board members on March 17, as the Board formally accepted an updated neighborhood plan that will guide future county planning efforts. It marks the first update to the original Arlington View Neighborhood Plan, which, when adopted in 1965, was the first of its kind in the county.
The concept of creating a foundation to support county parks is coming a little closer into focus.
“It’s a really good time to talk about those options and to think about what might be the best way to move forward,” said Jane Rudolph, director of the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation, at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Park and Recreation Commission.
County Board members have set public hearings next month on increasing taxi fares, expanding a Green Valley Park and designating a home as a local historic district.
The Board also set a hearing on possible changes to the county’s residential parking program, adopted a meeting schedule for 2026, approved an office-to-residential conversion project in Courthouse and approved a contract for new pedestrian bridges in two parks.
A key county advisory panel likes the proposal to ban gas-powered leaf blowers countywide, but doesn’t want to get too far into the weeds on specifics right now.
Members of the Arlington Park and Recreation Commission on Oct. 28 agreed to send a letter to County Board members, expressing support for the concept of outlawing gas blowers.
An government advisory panel may ask Arlington officials to increase funding to tackle invasive plants in county parks by up to 10 times current spending levels.
“We’re in crisis. The longer we wait, the less easy it’s going to be,” Park and Recreation Commission chair Jill Barker said at the body’s Sept. 23 meeting.
