City Council | ALXnow

Published July 13, 2026 at 11:45AM

The grand finale fireworks display at Alexandria’s 277th birthday celebration at Oronoco Bay Park, July 11, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria’s 277th birthday ended with a bang and a fizzle on Saturday (July 11), as the evening of entertainment at Oronoco Bay Park was capped with a dazzling fireworks show and a brief rainstorm.

Raindrops started to fall just before 9:30 p.m. as the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra started to play Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, sending hundreds of people under cover of tents and umbrellas at the very start of the fireworks. The evening was otherwise overcast and cool, and city leaders, the town crier and poet laureate rang in the annual celebration onstage and handed out birthday cupcakes from Wegmans.

News

Ribbon cut on Alexandria’s massive RiverRenew sewer system overhaul

By James Cullum

Published July 1, 2026 at 11:45AM

The RiverRenew ribbon cutting on July 1, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria leaders cut the ribbon today (Wednesday) on RiverRenew, the city’s largest infrastructure project in history.

The project replaces Old Town’s 19th-century combined sewer system with a 12-foot-wide, two-mile-long waterfront tunnel system and sewer infrastructure to divert approximately 120 million gallons of raw sewage from flowing into the Potomac River every year.

Around Town

PHOTOS: Alexandria celebrates Pride Fair at new John Carlyle Square location

By James Cullum

Published June 29, 2026 at 11:45AM

Alexandria’s ninth annual Pride Fair was held at John Carlyle Square Park, June 27, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

In recognition of Pride Month, Alexandria leaders joined hundreds of visitors in celebrating the city’s annual LGBTQIA+ Pride Fair on Saturday (June 27).

With City Hall in Old Town under renovation, this was the first time that the Pride fair was held at John Carlyle Square (300 John Carlyle Street). Dozens of vendors lined the park for the event, which was hosted by the city, the Del Ray Community Partnership, Inova Pride Clinic, Kindred Tree Healing Center and VEG ER for Pets.

News

ARHA board promotes housing director as acting deputy CEO

By James Cullum

Published June 19, 2026 at 1:45PM

ARHA properties in Old Town, Alexandria. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

With its interim chief executive officer stepping down today (Friday), the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners has promoted its director of housing to help provide continuity of leadership.

ARHA’s interim CEO Rickie Maddox submitted her resignation last month, leaving behind Alexandria’s struggling housing authority nearly a year after its previous CEO Erik Johnson was fired for living in a public housing unit — and the organization’s nine-member board resigned and was replaced. Now, Board Chair Mark Jinks says that Janell Diaz, ARHA’s director of housing, has been appointed the acting deputy CEO.

News

After NPS pump station denial, City Council advances alternate waterfront flood mitigation system

By James Cullum

Published June 15, 2026 at 3:45PM

Sandbags outside a business on lower King Street (staff photo by James Cullum)

With minimal discussion on Saturday (June 13), Alexandria City Council voted to move forward with an “enhanced gravity storm sewer system” to combat flooding along the waterfront in Old Town.

The City Council action was taken four months after the National Park Service denied the city’s plan to build a pump station at Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street). The city’s previously approved proposal would have closed Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park from the fall of 2026 until the fall of 2028 to rebuild segments of the sea wall and to install the pump station to recirculate water in flood-prone areas back to the Potomac River. The denial by NPS forced the city to make “significant modifications” to the plan, project manager Matt Landis told Council.

News

Alexandria leaders break ground on WestEnd development’s first residential building

By James Cullum

Published June 8, 2026 at 3:45PM | Updated June 8, 2026 at 4:13PM

Groundbreaking of the Aspect building at the WestEnd development on June 8, 2026 (via Foulger Pratt)

Four years after the demolition of Landmark Mall, Alexandria officials and developers broke ground today (June 8) on the first residential building project for the 52-acre WestEnd site.

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins was joined by many City Council members, as well as leaders from Foulger Pratt, Howard Hughes Communities and Silverstein Properties for the groundbreaking of the Aspect buildings at 5801 Duke Street. The seven-story Aspect will be connected by a sky bridge, which will also be used for the property’s fitness center, Foulger Pratt says.

News

Holland Lane overhaul brings two-way bike lanes, traffic calming to Carlyle neighborhood

By James Cullum

Published May 28, 2026 at 3:45PM

The intersection of Holland Lane and Jamieson Avenue in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood, May 28, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

After two years in development, Alexandria and regional leaders unveiled today (May 28) the newly restored streetscape on Holland Lane in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood.

The Holland Lane Restoration Project has been in the works since 2024 and was completed; it includes repaving and reducing lanes on each side of Holland Lane, new pavement markings, flexible bollards, pedestrian signals and two-way bike lanes. The Alexandria Police Department also announced a high-visibility speed enforcement campaign for Holland Lane, which connects Duke Street and Eisenhower Avenue.

News

City Council briefed on student questioning, privacy rules in new ACPS agreement with APD

By James Cullum

Published May 27, 2026 at 1:45PM

Alexandria Police at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus. (staff photo by James Cullum)

On Tuesday (May 26), Alexandria City Council was briefed on changes to the recently approved memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Alexandria Police Department and Alexandria City Public Schools.

As no action was required from City Council Tuesday, City Council members did not formally endorse the updated MOU approved earlier this month by the School Board. ACPS previously extended the 2023–2025 agreement while the city’s School Law Enforcement Partnership subcommittee, which is made up of members of City Council, the School Board and APD staff, finalized the new language.

News

School Board asks City Council to redirect reserve funds to program for high-needs students

By James Cullum and Emily Leayman

Published May 21, 2026 at 3:45PM

Alexandria School Board meeting in 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria School Board is asking City Council to use emergency funds to help preserve a $350,000 program that supports high-needs students.

In a joint letter to City Council, Chair Michelle Rief said the School Board is navigating difficult choices between staff and programming cuts. The request comes after City Council approved its Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, leaving a $5.6 million gap for the school system’s proposed $12.7 million collective bargaining agreement. Proposed budget cuts to fill the gap include reducing the partnership with Communities In Schools of Northern Virginia (CIS NOVA), which provides 10 bilingual staffers at Alexandria City High School, Francis Hammond Middle School, Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 School and Samuel Tucker, John Adams and William Ramsay Elementary Schools.

News

Old Town North power plant redevelopment and funding plans heading to city review

By James Cullum

Published May 20, 2026 at 9:15AM

A cyclist along a path in Old Town North near the old power plant (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Plans to redevelop the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North are heading to the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council next month.

The Planning Commission will get the first crack at the massive proposal to convert the 18-acre site at 1300 N. Royal Street into a mixed-use development at its meeting on Tuesday, June 2, followed by a City Council public hearing June 13. City Council will also be presented with a $135 million financing deal for the project June 9 (Tuesday), which property owner HRP Group says will catalyze more than $2 billion in private investment into the site. City Council will hold a public hearing for the financing agreement on Saturday, June 13.

News

Backyard beekeeping regulations stall in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published May 14, 2026 at 3:45PM | Updated May 14, 2026 at 4:07PM

A bee at Windmill Hill Park in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Planning Commission has deferred a plan to implement citywide beekeeping policies, finding that city staff needed to conduct more outreach and research.

On May 5, city staff told the Planning Commission that its community outreach was limited to a consultation with a member of the Northern Virginia Beekeepers Association. There are no existing provisions regulating beekeeping in Alexandria. The city’s plan would have allowed two hives on lots smaller than 5,000 square feet, with an additional hive for every additional 2,500 square feet of property, and 5-to-10-foot setbacks for those hives.