The City of Alexandria is soliciting public feedback on plans to revivify one of the city’s most underutilized parks as the project heads into a design phase starting next year.
The City is hosting a series of meetings — including one tonight at 7 p.m. at Patrick Henry Recreation Center (4643 Taney Avenue) — about long-awaited plans to fix up the city’s fairly underwhelming John Ewald Park.
The park currently consists of an open field with a basketball court, playground, and parking lot, but staff said the park is currently “underutilized” and “not well known.”
A plan was put together back in 2015 and endorsed by the Parks and Recreation Commission to make modifications, including a second basketball court, a new playground, a shaded structure and picnic area, and to improve the current field.
Those plans were amended in 2018 to include a parkour course with obstacles to be jumped over, vaulted, etc. A local parkour group raised $28,965 for the equipment in 2022, with funds to be matched by the city.
Part of the new design phase is making sure the original, almost decade-old plans still align with current community aims for the park. A new survey found that 85% still agree with the original park goals, with the shade structure and picnic area drawing the most praise. Others said the park could benefit from more walkability and non-car access.
Another part of the park redesign is improving lighting and security at the park, with pathways and foliage rearranged to promote visibility in the park.
The planning phase for the project kicked off earlier this year and will run through next spring. The current schedule is for the design process to start in May 2025 and continue through September 2026, followed by construction running from October 2026 through June 2027.
After the meeting tonight, another virtual meeting is scheduled for Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. and an open house on Feb. 10 at Patrick Henry Recreation Center (4643 Taney Avenue).
