The County Board approved the construction of a new building for the National Science Teachers Association last week, enabling the nonprofit organization to strengthen its partnership with Arlington Public Schools and provide a conference room for use by the school system and community.
The project ensures NSTA will stay in Arlington and allows them to attract other nonprofit organizations to the site to help it create an international center for education. The organization will collaborate with Arlington science teachers and provide the school system with its resources, educational material and use of its Webcasting studio.
“The value of having the public schools access the latest in science curriculum, teaching methods and support services is enormous,” said County Board member Barbara Favola.
NSTA will retain its existing building and replace the adjacent site, bounded by Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards, N. Rhodes Street, and N. Courthouse Road, with a six-story, 72,000- square-foot office complex with ground floor retail.
Both the Rhodeside Grill and Il Radicchio restaurant will be knocked down to make room for the new facility, which will include a two-floor underground parking garage that nearby residents can utilize.
The NSTA, which was founded in 1944 and promotes innovation in science teaching and learning, serves more than 55,000 teachers, administrators, scientists and business and industry representatives.
The school system will be able to use the conference room free of charge eight times a year and community organizations can hold meetings there six times a year. In the original proposal, community groups were not guaranteed free access to the conference room, but it was amended after some board members objected that NSTA was not providing the community with enough benefits in exchange for greater density.
NSTA’s extensive library of science material will be available to Arlington Public Schools and all science teachers will have access to the organization’s journals and online content. An E-mentoring program will also be initiated, and Arlington teachers can make use of NSTA’s Webcasting and virtual seminars.
“The relationship between NSTA and Arlington schools is unique and positions the schools to have a comprehensive package of mentoring and membership privileges,” said Gerry Wheeler, executive director of NSTA.
The organization is attempting to create a center for international science and hopes to draw several other nonprofit organizations to the proposed facility.
IN THE WAKE of BRAC, when up to 18,000 defense and Pentagon contracting jobs are expected to leave Arlington, it is imperative that the county do all it can to attract new organizations, said County Board Chairman Jay Fisette .
“This is an opportunity for us to establish a very unique presence that will draw and attract other businesses and nonprofits in the same area to our community,” Fisette said.
Since NSTA asked for a rezoning and a change to the General Land Use Plan for their new building, the county should have received a larger community benefit package, said County Board Vice-Chairman Chris Zimmerman, who was the only member to vote against the project.
The conference room should be available to the public free of charge more than six times a year, Zimmerman said. Recently, the Prospect House project allowed county organizations to utilize its conference room 12 times a year for free, even though it did not ask for a re-zoning of its property.
“The conference facility is the justification for breaking the height limit,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t think the community will get any benefits from the conference center.”
NSTA will charge the public approximately $400 for the use of the conference center, to cover security maintenance and utility costs.
This high fee will prevent civic associations and other organizations from holding meetings there, eliminating the main impetus for amending the land use plan for this project, Zimmerman said.
“This is an applicant we want to accommodate but they are not providing a big enough public benefit,” Zimmerman said.