$200 million parks bond: The projects residents said they wanted

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY — Before there was the talk of a $200 million parks and recreation bond, there was a study.

The Prince William County Parks and Recreation Department contracted with ECT Institute of Olathe, Kansas which produced a nearly 600 – page report on unmet needs in county parks.

The most wanted need as cited by the survey’s 2,400 respondents: a network of walking trails that actually connect to each other, that they can use to get them to the places they want to go.

We’ve seen this two years ago with a study of the Neabsco Greenway, a system of trails in the Mapledale and Lindendale areas of Dale City. Cited as part of a study on who to revitalize areas along Dale Boulevard, the Neabsco Greenway would create a pedestrian backway that could take people from Andrew Leitch Waterworks Park to Center Plaza Giant without ever having to walk on busy Dale Boulevard.

After walking trails, the other nine-most requested amenities were:

• Natural wildlife habitats
• Indoor fitness and exercise facilities
• Large regional parks
• Picnic shelters
• Playgrounds
• Batting cages and fishing areas
• Historic properties (i.e.: Ben Lomond House, Rippon Lodge)
• Indoor swimming pool/leisure pool
• Off-leash dog park

The 10 least requested parks amenities:

• Rugby fields
• Cricket fields
• Lacrosse fields
• Outdoor volleyball courts
• Skateboard park
• Inline skating park
• Pickleball
• Indoor basketball courts
• Outdoor Amphitheater
• Indoor basketball courts

In addition to mailing surveys to 16,000 homes in the county, parks officials held two separate public meetings to gain input from residents on what they wanted from their parks and recreation department.

Potomac Local reported on the second and final meeting held in January.

Brent Heavner, the county’s parks and recreation department spokesman, said the data collected from this survey was used to create the list of projects now under consideration by the Board of County Supervisors for a $200 million bond that would pay for some of these projects.

The largest of the projects is an $84 million indoor track and sports facility that would be built somewhere along Interstate 95 in Lake Ridge. When the proposed hydraulic track is not in use, the facility could be used for high school graduations and other events, county parks chief Seth Handler-Voss told Supervisors.

Here’s a link to the full ECT Institute report.

This month, it’ll be up to the Board of County Supervisors to petition the Circuit Court place the $200 million parks bond and a separate $400 million roads bond to the November ballot. Then, if it makes it here, voters will have the final say as to whether or not leaders can borrow money to build the new park’s amenities.

While the roads bond seems to be a popular idea with elected officials, the parks bond isn’t. Unlike the roads bond that could be used to unlock matching state and federal funds, there is no similar option for parks, so the county would be on the hook for repaying the full $200 million.

The parks and recreation need survey was completed before there was any discussion of a potential $200 million parks bond. The idea has been widely pushed by the outgoing Corey Stewart, Board Chairman At-large who is not seeking reelection.