From left to right: Cindy Roeder, director of the Herndon Parks and Recreation Department; John Irish, chief program and project management for the Herndon Department of Public Works; Robert Walker, chair of the Herndon Architectural Review Board; Bill Ashton, Herndon Town Manager; Mark Martino, athletic services branch manager for the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services; Bill McKenna, Herndon councilmember; Lisa Merkel, mayor of Herndon; Jennifer Baker, Herndon vice mayor and councilmember; Signe Friedrichs, Herndon councilmember; Jeff Davidson, Herndon councilmember; John Foust, Dranesville District Supervisor; Lance Kilby, director of engineering for Burgess & Niple, an engineering and architectural firm; Jody Rameta, club administrator for Herndon Youth Soccer; Dave Bekenstein, president of Herndon Youth Soccer; and Sally Burns, vice president and director of travel for Herndon Youth Soccer. Photo by Fallon Forbush.
Herndon — A ribbon cutting commemorated the brand-new turf soccer field at the Herndon Community Center’s
Bready Park on Saturday morning, Sept. 9.
Soccer players began practicing on the field in August, and the field was bustling with multiple teams playing games on sections of the field while officials assembled to cut the ribbon.
“This project has been a really long-time coming … Herndon Town Councils long before we arrived had the foresight to put this on the plan and it’s been on the books since … 2004 — a long time ago — and was finally funded this past year,” Town of Herndon Mayor Lisa Merkel said during the ribbon cutting as soccer players battled behind her and parents cheered and yelled for their teams around her.
The field replacement from natural grass to turf was listed on the town’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for more than 10 years and was bumped year-after-year until money was secured to finance the project, which cost just over $1 million.
The town of Herndon paid $566,000 from its general fund; Fairfax County provided a $125,000 grant; and Herndon Youth Soccer will pay $400,000 — $200,000 right away and another $200,000 on a payment plan to the town.
“We really cannot thank Herndon Soccer enough because we would not have been able to do this without your generous contribution,” Merkel said.
Herndon Youth Soccer, which has soccer teams for boys and girls under-5 to 19 years old, will be the primary user of the field. The club also uses the fields at Herndon High School, which it also
funded, according to the club’s president, Dave Bekenstein.
“The field used to be unusable and the teams have been excited to have it,” Bekenstein said of the new turf field. “It can be used, even in bad weather.”
The field has been booked ever since it opened, according to Cindy Roeder, director of the town of Herndon Parks and Recreation Department.
“The teams were super excited,” Roeder said. “Our teams have been waiting to play here at home.”