Two popular Alexandria parks on the waterfront are about to close for a while, and the city is soliciting feedback on their redevelopment.
Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street) and Point Lumley Park (1 Duke Street) in Old Town are prone to frequent flooding. Both will be redeveloped as the city plans on rebuilding segments of sea wall and installing a pumping station at Waterfront Park to move floodwaters back out to the Potomac River.
The effort includes a number of conceptual designs for both parks. The city is currently conducting a poll on the alternatives, which can be accessed via the QR code in the photo gallery above.
The key question is where to install the 24-foot-tall, 3,400-square-foot stormwater pumping station at Waterfront Park. One option is along Strand Street, at the western edge of the park. The other option is along Prince Street. Either way, the nature of the entire area is set to change.
The city is planning for life span of 50-to-75 years for the infrastructure, project implementation manager Matthew Landes said at an open house earlier this week.
“It will not last forever. In the projections for sea level rise, we are within about that two-foot range for that foreseeable lifespan of our infrastructure,” Landes said. “The pump station itself, the sewer infrastructure that we’re proposing, as well as our shoreline improvements will help mitigate that flooding.”
The construction will also result in the loss of public parking spots on The Strand Street, as well as the old paid parking lot outside Chadwicks (203 The Strand Street).
One piece of good news — city staff said that there will be four “family-style” public restrooms at the pumping station.
City staff and planners are working to submit concepts to the Board of Architectural Review by mid-December. After environmental approvals, City Council could vote on a preferred alternative by next fall and construction could start as early as mid-2026 and wrap up by mid-2028, according to the city.
Both parks would be closed during the construction, which would coincide with the renovation of City Hall, just a few blocks away at 301 King Street.
Much of the work would be underground. According to the city:
A network of new large stormwater pipes will be installed under portions of Union Street, Strand Street, Duke Street, Prince Street, King Street, Cameron Street, and Thompsons Alley, and will replace the existing undersized and aging sewer pipes. The new system will convey water from flood-prone areas along Alexandria’s Waterfront to the new pump station, and then out into the Potomac River.
