Newly purchased land is not the only source of fields for local youth sports teams. The Sully District's parks also contain fields, but many of them need upgrading before they may be considered Level I fields — having lights, parking, restrooms and irrigation.
Currently, only Greenbriar and Poplar Tree parks have such fields — and they're more than 25 years old — so money was put into the 1998 park bond to upgrade E.C. Lawrence to a Level 1 park.
The plan is to eventually have seven Level 1 fields there. However, things may change because of the impending Route 28 widening which could affect the park's entrance, making access to these fields too difficult. So the focus is now shifting to Centreville Farms, which is undergoing a major renovation by two developers.
CYA played on three fields in Arrowhead Park there but, as part of their proffers, the developers will destroy and then rebuild this park and construct, finish-grade and plant grass for four new fields. Furthermore, said Strickland, "In the park bond, we'd planned to make Arrowhead Park have Level 1 fields, so we'd add lights, irrigation, restrooms and parking to these four fields."
Also in the works in nearby Fair Oaks is a mixed-use entertainment complex called Fairfax Corner, and Frey and Koch were able to get its developer to proffer the construction of three rectangular fields on Board of Supervisors property just across Stringfellow Road, across from Arrowhead Park.
These fields have already been built and, although they won't be lit, they've been sodded and now have irrigation — which helps maintain them — so they'll be ready for use this spring. In addition, the new elementary school being built in Centreville Farms will have three fields of its own — two 60-foot diamonds (which, during nonschool hours, can be used for Little League baseball and girls softball) and a large rectangular field.
These fields will not be lighted, either. But, when added to the four fields in Arrowhead Park and the three across from the park, they make a complex there of 10 new fields that will come on line in the next 18-24 months.