[Archived] City of Alexandria Seeks Public Comment on Proposal to Name the New Community Building at Four Mile Run Park

For Immediate Release: July 25, 2011

The City of Alexandria is seeking public comment on a proposal to name the new community building located at 4109 Mount Vernon Ave. the Conservatory at Four Mile Run Park. The Executive Committee of the Arlandria Action Plan Advisory Group forwarded the proposal.

In May 2011, the Arlandria Action Plan Advisory Group initiated a discussion on the future naming of the new community building. This building, formerly a Duron Paint store, was converted to a community building this past spring as part of the Four Mile Run Park Expansion project.  The proposed building name, “Conservatory at Four Mile Run Park” received overwhelming support from the Advisory Group, which represents businesses and citizen leaders within the diverse community. The group agreed that the consensus highlights the unique nature of the location of the building and both the environmental and arts foundations of the community building. Their proposal states that the term “conservatory” also captures the facility’s origins as a conservation project, its adaptive reuse and its green elements.

A Special Use Permit (SUP) to convert the building from a commercial use to a community building was approved by City Council in June 2010. Potential community uses approved with the SUP include: community meeting space; community festival area, farmers and craft market building, Four Mile Run and related environmental education facility, art shows and markets, film viewings and festivals, City events, classes and summer camps, professional organization meeting space, and one-time health or bicycle clinics. For more information on the SUP, please see the staff report at http://dockets.alexandriava.gov/icons/pz/pc/CY10/060110/di8.pdf.

The public is invited to provide comment on the proposal to name the community building the “Conservatory at Four Mile Run Park” through Monday, August 29, 2011. Those interested in providing comments will be able to record their comments by email to jack.browand@alexandriava.gov, subject line: Conservatory at Four Mile Run 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, August 29 will be reviewed by the City Council Naming Committee.

For additional information, contact Jack Browand, Acting Deputy Director, at 703.746.5504 or by email at jack.browand@alexandriava.gov.