Arlington Board OKs Improvements to Parks Across County

The Arlington County Board this weekend approved spending nearly $817,000 for large- and small-scale improvements at nine different parks.

The biggest project by far is rebuilding the playground Tuckahoe Park, 2400 N. Sycamore St., and making the park more accessible to people with disabilities.

The board approved a $733,000-plus contract with King George-based Jeffery Stack Inc. to install new playground equipment, create a more accessible entrance, improve paths, and install synthetic turf and rain gardens.

Elected officials, too, gave final approval to eight resident-driven projects to parks across the county.

They include:

• Removing invasive plants and restoring the forest with native plants and trees at Hillside Park, 1601 N. Pierce St. ($11,354)
• Building a garden and providing tools for teen gardening and other programming at Lubber Run Park at North Columbus and North 2nd streets. ($5,500)
• Constructing a small deck to protect the root system of a pin oak at Fort Barnard Park, plus caring for the tree to enhance its growth. The park, at 2101 S. Pollard St., also will get three new shade trees, a higher fence and a berm. ($15,000)
• Adding four new benches and a wood chip path to an existing garden at Thomas Jefferson Middle School on South Old Glebe Road. Funding also will pay for a garden design plan by EarlySpace LLC. ($13,718)
• Installing five new benches and an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant picnic table and grill at Fraser Park on 28th Street South. ($10,400)
• Improving the volleyball court at Alcova Heights Park, 901 S. George Mason Drive. The improvements include buying a new net and poles, plus landscaping and a 20-foot split-rail fence. ($5,523)
• Adding four benches to a large traffic island on John Marshall Drive in the Williamsburg neighborhood. The island will also be treated for invasive plants and see its turf improved. ($9,290)
• Building a new concrete pedestrian and bicycle path through Woodlawn Park to connect 15th Street North, which currently dead ends on both sides of the park. ($12,592)

The smaller projects will be paid for with Park Enhancement Grants, for which residents can apply through the county's 13-member Parks and Recreation Commission.

"Parks are vital to the health and well-being of our children and our community," Arlington County Board Chairman Walter Tejada said in a statement. "…Thousands of diverse Arlington kids will continue to have a great time in our parks."