[Archived] City of Alexandria Seeks Public Comment on Proposal to Name Park to Honor Ruby Tucker

For Immediate Release: October 7, 2010

The City of Alexandria is seeking public comment on a proposal to name the park property located at 3500 Jefferson Davis Highway Ruby Tucker Park (end of Lynhaven Drive and Jefferson Davis Highway). The proposal was forwarded by the Lynhaven Citizens Association in response to Ruby Tucker’s tireless advocacy for their neighborhood as well as Alexandria’s children and underserved populations.

Known as the “Queen of Lynhaven,” Ruby Tucker served for 12 years on the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority where she was a voice for extending services to the City’s most needy residents. She was a caring mother not only to her own children but to scores of foster children she cared for throughout her life, was a passionate founding member of her church, an elections official for as long as anyone can remember, and the director of the Alexandria Senior Services Agency and the ALIVE Child Development Center.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Ruby Tucker lead a small and dedicated group of neighbors who banded together to put their foot down on the illicit activity in the Lynhaven community. Through their efforts, the community teamed up with the City and the Police Department to clean up the neighborhood, block by block, alley by alley. Their efforts led to the City’s highly touted Community Oriented Policing (COP) Program.

One of the last things Ruby Tucker did for the Lynhaven community before she passed away was to work hard on having a park created from a barren half-acre of land along Jefferson Davis Highway, at the end of Lynhaven Drive. Like most things she did, she never gave up until the community was made better by this new park space. What was an unsightly stretch of roadside desertion is now a wonderful expanse of green with park benches, a shiny new bus stop and even a horseshoe pit.

The public is invited to provide comment on the proposal to name the park property Ruby Tucker Park through Monday, November 8. Those interested in providing comments will be able to record their comments by email to jack.browand@alexandriava.gov, subject line: Ruby Tucker Park, or in a notebook on display at the Cora Kelly Recreation Center, 25 W. Reed Ave. Comments may be mailed to Recreation and Parks, Attn: Jack Browand, 1108 Jefferson St., Alexandria VA 22314. All comments received or postmarked by Monday, November 8 will be reviewed by the City Council Naming Committee.

For additional information, contact Jack Browand, Division Chief, at 703.746.5504 or by email at jack.browand@alexandriava.gov.