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EXCLUSIVE: Prince William community center unexpectedly closed nearly one year for restoration, modernization work

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — The Pat White Center at Ben Lomond, affectionately known as “The Barn” to area residents, has been closed since January when a pipe burst, spewing water inside the building.

The Prince William County-owned and operated facility draws its customers from about a five-mile radius, according to Brent Heavner, the Communications Chief for the Prince William Department of Parks and Recreation.

Located near the intersection of Sudley Manor Drive and Copeland Drive in Manassas, the center sits in one of the less affluent areas in the Gainesville District, which boast half-million dollar homes in its Gainesville and Haymarket neighborhoods.

Here outside the Ben Lomond Community Center, The average home price in the Sudley neighborhood $278,700 – at a wide disparity compared to other neighborhoods in the district. The average home price in Haymarket is $528,000, and the average price in Gainesville is $477,500.

While it was open, the center provided many activities and events for residents and children in the surrounding neighborhood.

“We’ve had programs ranging from multigenerational tea parties to breakfast with Santa to programming with Minecraft to chess,” Heavner said.

The center has also had a dance and a preschool program at the center.

“We are seeing some changes in what the community is demanding out of that facility, we are seeing less interest in things like preschool and dance and more interest in those kinds of specialty programs- the STEM-type of programs like programming and things of that nature- and the other place where we’ve seen a lot of growth and community demand is for the availability of rental space so that we can host community events in there – if somebody’s having a graduation party or a retirement party or a quinceanera or a birthday, that location has become increasingly popular for those types of uses as well,” Heavner said.

But it may be a while before the center is once again providing those services to the community.

In January, a sprinkler pipe on the second floor of the center froze, then expanded and burst. The damage was substantial and, due to its location on the 2nd floor, ruined both floors of the center.

“When we re-open that facility- and we’re targeting January for that- we will only be able to open the first floor of the facility. So that’s going to change the volume and nature of the programming we can offer at the facility,” Heavner said.

“Right now we are really in the final stages of finishing the rebuild of the lower floor. So on both floors, all of the water damaged materials have been removed, some floors and walls have been replaced. The bottom floor is done but there’s still a little bit of flooring and some renovations to the restroom- and the renovations so far- not including the restroom – have been about $230,000 worth of repairs. Because we are renovating the whole building it can no longer be grandfathered from an Americans with Disability Act (ADA) perspective, so we need to make sure that facility is accessible.” Heavner explained.

County records show the original barn building in which the center is housed was built in 1901. It landed in the hands of the county parks division in 1983, according to records.

“We have the plans [for renovating] the restrooms so that [they are] accessible for people in wheelchairs or other mobility limitations. Those plans are under review right now. We expect the process from plan to completion for those first-floor restroom renovations to cost us about another $70,000,” Heavner said.

To further complicate the process, the second floor was constructed without an elevator, another issue for residents with disabilities. Right now, there’s no money to add one.

“That’s going to be a capital project we are going to be requesting funding for in the future,” Heavner said.

Heavner explained that there have been numerous setbacks and issues that have arisen during the restoration project. Asbestos was found in the building and the water damage caused mold that had to be removed, which needed prompt attention. From that, they have had to get design plans, approvals, and construction contracts.

“Given the scope of the damage and the scope of the project, I think it’s moving about as we would have expected,” Heavner said.

About half of the people who used the preschool programs have enrolled in other programs at other centers, according to Heavner. Summer camp programming, which was a major part of what the Pat White Center did, was moved around to other locations such as the firehouse or the old courthouse.

“We kind of looked at other amenities in the area and tried to determine which of those camps would work at alternative facilities and changed our current camp programming a little bit and used those other facilities in the area to accommodate our summer campers. I think we had a pretty good success with making programs available,” Heavner said.

“The silver lining is when we reopen that facility in January, it’s going to be very nice. We’re going to have new finishes. It’s going to be a refreshed facility.” Heavner said.

Gainesville District Supervisor Pete Candland said he has full confidence in the work the county parks division is doing at the site.

“There’s construction issues there that [are] barring us from being able to open it back up to the public. And so we’re trying to figure out what we can open up as soon as we can, what can’t we do…”

Residents want to see the center reopened.

“Absolutely. People see it as a great public use for a facility there in the Sudley area,” said Candland. “We’re now trying to figure out how we can get that open as soon as possible and what’s the future of that center moving forward,” Candland said.

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