Second floor at Pat White Center at Ben Lomond still closed

Gainesville District Supervisor Peter Candland held a series of town halls asking residents what types of programming they would like to see at the community center on Sudley Manor Drive near Manassas.

• Prince William County Parks and Rec spokesman Brent Heavner estimated that the meetings lasted about two hours.

Why it matters: The center was closed for about a year after a sprinkler pipe on the second floor of the center froze, expanded and burst in January 2019.

• The center serves a lower-income neighborhood when compared to others in the affluent Gainesville District.
• The damage from the pipe was substantial and, due to its location on the second floor, ruined both floors of the center.
• The renovation cost $340,000.

Heavner said the first floor of the facility has been renovated completed and is hosting some programming and doing some rentals such as a holiday tea party being held in December.

• The second floor has been through a complete renovation after the extensive water damage, but despite the renovation, that floor is still closed.
• It will be used both as an area for the Department of Parks and Recreation to offer programs and as a rental space as was the case prior to the renovation of the facility.

The next step is that the upstairs now has to face compliance for Americans with Disability Act (ADA) guidelines – and there is no elevator or escalator yet so the second floor can’t be used until that happens.

• “The long-term plan will be to add an elevator to the building,” Heavner said, adding that they are waiting for the Board of County Supervisors to allocate funding to that. “Mr. Candland is aware of the community’s desire to get that facility fully operational again.” 

The second floor contains the largest space in the Pat White Center and was used for dance or space rentals.

• “We found there is really not a substantial demand for dance in that location,” Heavner said.

Some of the programs that had been offered at the Pat White Center were moved to the Dale City Rec Center, and to the Ferlazzo Building in Woodbridge.

• There has been “a lot more interest” for these programs at their new centers, Heavner noted.