New Recreation Facility Debated, Reston Connection, February 21, 2013

Reston Community Center solicits public input on a new indoor recreation center at Baron Cameron Park.

 By Andrea Worker

Reston Community Center invited the public to bring their wish lists to an open forum meeting on Monday, Feb. 11, to discuss the potential development of a new indoor recreation center at Baron Cameron Park. In 2012, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors transferred 68 acres at the park to the Fairfax County Parks Authority, and Bill Bouie, who is both a member of the Reston Community Center Board of Governors, as well as the chairman of the parks authority Board told the assembly that the Reston Community Center is “an interested party” in the Fairfax County Parks Authority’s Master Planning Process about to begin in March. “We are looking ahead to FY 2015’s budget, and in partnership with the FCPA our hope would be to develop an indoor facility on the site,” said Bouie, to a meeting room packed with individual residents, as well as plethora of local organizations, including the Reston Association, Reston Interfaith, Sustainable Reston, Reston Accessibility Committee, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the YMCA, Reston Runners and more. “Reston continues to grow and that growth means we need to respond and expand our recreational offerings.”  . .

A representative from Reston Accessibility Committee presents remarks to crowd at Reston Community Center at the organization's meeting to discuss future needs and development. Photo by Andrea Worker.

Several attendees made pitches for additional venues for performing and cultural arts programs, whether at the Baron Cameron site or elsewhere, but the number one request was for a multi-use aquatic center to be the focal point of the potential new facility, featuring a 50 meter pool with “lots of lanes and a real diving well.”  . . .

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