Remake Dale City: The ‘city’ has 2 centers

We think of them now as two very separate neighborhoods — Minnieville Road where it crosses Dale Boulevard at Center Plaza, and Mapledale.

Sure, both neighborhoods have a Giant Food store as the anchor of the neighborhood’s respective shopping center. But both are just stops on the way home after work. Or just a traffic light to get beyond on your drive to or from the office. And, in this car-centric area of Prince William County, no one would walk the distance between these two points on Dale Boulevard unless they had to.

A new plan, however, has these two neighborhoods on the forefront of a reimagined Dale City. One where Minnieville and Mapledale serve as the “heart of Dale City”– the “friendliest little city around,” as the neighborhood’s marketing tag line states.

They came, they saw, they made some notes

The Minnieville and Mapledale neighborhoods are billed as conjoined twins in a new report out from Prince William County. They are places where, some day, people would be able to gather at a science center and learn about nature, or at an amphitheater for and outdoor show. (This strikes me as odd as I grew up in Mapledale, and as I stated earlier, these are two very separate neighborhoods.)

The recommendations come after six planners from the American Institute of Architects Sustainable Design Assesment Team (SDAT for short) came to Dale City and toured its main thoroughfare: Dale Boulevard. In fact, those of you not familiar with Dale City — as all of the SDAT study participants were until they arrived here — should delight in the fact that nearly all of the names of the neighborhoods in the circa 1960s community end in “dale.” And they go in alphabetical order — Ashdale, Birchdale, Cherrydale, Darbydale, etc. — you get the picture.

And, no, Dale City is not a city. It’s a mix of homes and retail businesses in Prince William County. It has no mayor, but John Jenkins represents most of the area on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors while Marty Nohe represents the back quadrant of Dale City.

The planners got a look at the abandoned Kmart building near Interstate 95 — which they dubbed “ghost box” — held two public meetings, and got an earful from residents.

Traffic congestion is awful. Houses are older, and in some cases run down. The shopping centers are tired, too. There are incomplete sidewalks. And, if you could walk there, there’s no center of the community in which to hang out. These were all gripes mentioned at public meeting held at the C.D. Hylton Memorial Chapel on Monday, June 8.

The “city” has two centers

So the SDAT team set out to find a new city center for Dale City. It chose Minnieville and Mapledale. And they recommended changes to these areas to make them more people friendly.

Minnieville, which I have always considered the heart of Dale City, is already home to the successful Dale City Farmers Market. Planners want to build on that success and add a commuter parking deck, improving the intersections, adding main street retail, new apartments, and make space in what is now the parking lot of Center Plaza for people to linger. The area would be anchored by a new science center that would be located next to the current bowling alley.

It’s important to note that a resident who attended the public hearing on June 8 recommended a science center be built in Dale City to make the area a destination for tourists. George Mason University is already building such a center on the banks of the Occoquan River in Woodbridge.

At Mapledale, an amphitheater would be a major draw. Nestled on the hill where I went sledding in the wintertime behind Mapledale Plaza, would sit an outdoor show venue that would serve as a place for the community to gather. A relocated community library would also sit at what today is the parking lot of Mapledale Plaza, next to where a Mobil gas station used to be.

Across the street behind a BP gas station, a new street would be built. It would connect to Mapledale Avenue and link to Ridgefield Road, and would facilitate more development.

This, according to planners, would be a neighborhood focused on wellness. A spa could be built on the site of the old Mobil gas station, and new apartment homes for those 55 years or older who want to move out of their single-family home into something smaller. New office buildings are also mentioned in the report, as well as making the area walkable to cater to both retirees and millennials.

Is there developer in Minnieville and Mapledale? According to the report, there is a plus/minus $275 million surplus demand for development of homes and office space, and plus/minus $22 million in demand for new restaurants.