[Archived] Community Meeting Planned for May 31 To Discuss Proposed Plans for City Complex

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	May 25, 2005 PIO# 178-05/bg	Barbara J. Gordon, Public Information Officer, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

Community Meeting Planned for May 31
To Discuss Proposed Plans for City Complex
Uses to Include Police Headquarters, Bus Facility, Recreation Fields

The City of Alexandria has scheduled a community meeting for Tuesday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m., to discuss the City's proposed plans for its property south of Duke Street. The community meeting will be held in the Bishop Ireton High School Auditorium, 201 Cambridge Road. The City complex would include a proposed new police headquarters, a DASH bus facility, a City maintenance facility and proposed new recreation fields on soon-to-be acquired property. The property under discussion extends from the City-owned property at Duke Street and Wheeler Avenue on the west, behind Luckett Field at the foot of Quaker Lane, continuing east to Telegraph Road, and behind the Duke Street businesses to the east.

The proposed police headquarters, which is expected to be completed by 2010, would provide a single site in which to locate the operations of the Alexandria Police Department, which are now located at several locations: the Public Safety Center on Mill Road and in rental space at 2034 and 2900 Eisenhower Ave. The City-owned Duke Street/Wheeler Avenue site is the location recommended by a City Council-appointed task force last December for the police headquarters.

In order to use the Duke Street/Wheeler Avenue site for a police headquarters, the City proposes to relocate the maintenance operations of the Departments of Transportation and Environmental Services and Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities from that location to a City-owned facility located at Roth Street and Business Center Drive by 2008. The City's salt dome and neighborhood recycling center would also be moved from Wheeler Avenue to other locations within the City complex.

Plans have been approved and state urban grant funding has been obtained to acquire property and to build a new facility for the DASH bus system on Business Center Drive, adjacent to the Roth Street property. The new 60,000 square foot DASH facility is expected to be completed by 2008 and will replace the current facility, which is too small to meet the needs of the transit system.
New recreation fields are being proposed on 13.7 acres of land to be acquired from the CSX Railroad. The CSX property, located south of Witter Drive and west of Telegraph Road, would be acquired with federal funds as part of the settlement of the lawsuit on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction project. The settlement will also provide funding for the construction of the fields, restrooms and adjacent parking, which are scheduled to be completed in 2008. In addition to the information provided at the May 31 public meeting, the Alexandria Park and Recreation Commission will hold public hearings on the proposed property acquisition and recreation field concepts in June.

The Alexandria Planning Commission also will hold a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of City property for the recreation fields at its June 7 meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 301 King Street.

Locating multiple City facilities on this industrially zoned site would enable the City to meet the current and future needs of a several City agencies on City property and would enhance the appearance of the overall area. Additional public meetings will be scheduled in the future to obtain community input.

For more information about the community meeting or the proposed plans, call the Director of General Services at 703.838.4770.