The Friends of Riverbend Park, Inc. (FORB) is an independent non-stock, non-profit corporation, established in the Commonwealth of Virginia on Aug. 5, 1999, with the purpose of protecting, enhancing, and preserving the physical, cultural and natural heritage of Riverbend Park by educating the public to the value of environmental protection generally and of the park’s wildlife habitat specifically; providing volunteer services to the park; channeling donations of money, property, and materials to the park; providing citizen input to plans that may be proposed for the park; and performing any other activities or services necessary or convenient to carry out such purposes, to the extent permitted by Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
It is our strong conviction that the parks and parks facilities system in Fairfax County should be robustly supported by its citizens and voters in the upcoming 2020 General & Special Elections to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Specifically, the ballot contains a vote for or against approval of a Parks and Parks Facilities Bonds issue in the amount of $112,000,000 to acquire or improve the county’s parks and parks facilities. Even more specifically, the detailed list of projects included in the Fairfax County Park Authority’s priorities for this bond issue is a design study for a new Interpretive Center at Riverbend Park to replace the existing Visitor Center which is located on the Potomac River flood plain and subject to frequent flooding. It is simply a matter of time before the existing Visitor Center will be seriously compromised or swept away by the Potomac’s flood waters. FORB believes that plans to replace that structure with a new Interpretive Center in accordance with Riverbend Park’s Master Plan must begin as soon as possible, and we urge all voters to approve the Parks and Parks Facilities on the November 3rd ballot.
Hugh Morrow, President
Kevin Dillon, Treasurer
Eleanor Anderson, Vice President
Jack Bowles
Cynthia Fisher
Karen Hershey
John Hughes-Caley
Susan Keating
Kurt Laubinger
Frank Zeng
John Callow, Riverbend Park Manager, ex officio