A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Saturday, July 22, to mark the completion of the new park. Front row, from left: Fairfax County Park Authority Deputy Director and Acting Executive Director Sara Baldwin; Maintenance Crewmember Rob Aaront; Planning and Development Director Dave Bowden; Area 6 Manager Wayne Brissey; Dranesville District Representative to the Park Authority Board Tim Hackman; Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust; Urban Limited Director of Landscape Architecture Kevin Tankersley; CBG Building Company Project Engineer Jake Bronstein; Herndon Resident Davison Benton; and Greystar Community Manager Catherine Hughes. Back row, from left: Aiden Buche, 4 (on slide); Davison Benton Jr., 8; Justice Benton, 9; Davison Benton, 12; and Danika Benton, 4 (unseen standing behind her father). Photo by Fallon Forbush.
After being approved in December 2013, the 2.6-acre Dulles Station Community Park is now open at 13707 Sayward Boulevard in Herndon — every day from dawn to dusk.
The $1.6 million park includes playgrounds for preschoolers and elementary-aged children, a seating area, a fitness area, a walking trail, a multi-use court and a dog park with a shade pavilion.
Situated just south of the Dulles Toll Road and surrounded by apartment buildings and hotels, the park provides open space in a sea of concrete.
“There’s a lot of development going on out here in this part of the county and as we develop, we want to make sure we’re not just creating housing, but we’re also creating communities,” said Supervisor John Foust (D-Dranesville District). “In order to do that, we have to focus on things like these types of urban parks.”
The park came about as a proffer agreement associated with the development of Greystar’s Station on Silver apartments at 2340 Carta Way in Herndon. The agreement between Greystar and the county was an investment of up to $1.5 million by the developer for the design and development of a community park facility.
“The developer here was just totally cooperative,” Foust said.
“We really appreciate the developer doing this for us,” added Tim Hackman, the Dranesville District’s representative to the Fairfax County Park Authority Board. “It’s a great park.”
The developer hopes the park will help lure in tenants, now that units in the new building are up for lease.
“We have 400 beautiful residential units to fill up, located right across the street from this park,” Greystar Community Manager Catherine Hughes said. “This park will absolutely add value. Not only is it a value to everybody within this community, but it will certainly be a value and an amenity to Station on Silver.”
Approved plans were in the pipeline for four years, but work on the park did not start until last February, according to CBG Building Company Project Engineer Jake Bronstein.
“It was a lot of site work and to get this lot to be looking where it’s ready for a park, it took a lot of work,” said Bronstein.
Though only one family attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he says more will take advantage of the amenities once word gets out.
“To have a centralized place like this for families will be both a strong selling point for everyone here, but also a good gathering place for the community,” said Bronstein.