The Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities has released its Winter 2026 Program Guide, detailing new seasonal classes, activities and more.
Starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, Alexandria residents can sign up for RPCA’s winter programs, which start next month and run through April 2026. Registration for nonresidents opens two days later, on Dec. 19.
Alexandria is asking for public feedback on its recreation programs.
A program interest survey is open to the public until Saturday, Nov. 1. It asks respondents about their recreational interests, their usage of city recreation centers and parks, and what offerings could be expanded or improved by the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities.
How’s your calendar looking?
Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities is seeking vendors for the fourth annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration at the Patrick Henry Recreation Center (4643 Taney Avenue). The party’s on October 11 (Saturday), and the deadline to be a vendor is August 1.
For years, City reports have confirmed that John Ewald Park on Duke Street is in rough shape, but the ball started rolling last year on plans to revitalize the lackluster space.
A new survey posted by the City of Alexandria asks for public feedback on plans to transform the park. Proposed new additions include a second basketball court, picnic pavilion, parkour equipment and more.
The City of Alexandria is gearing up for an overhaul to the storied Fort Ward Park.
Since early 2015, the City has been working on plans to revitalize Fort Ward and make the park more accessible. Planned changes include a new and more accessible playground, picnic shelters on a new pathway, and more memorialization/preservation of burial sites used by the Black community that settled at the fort after the Civil War.
Attention Del Ray dog owners: The Eugene Simpson Park will reopen to the public in the beginning of next year at the end of more than a year of redevelopment.
The formerly dusty, not-grassy park at 521 E. Monroe Avenue will be closed for the last three months of the year to allow for a “sod establishment period,” according to the city.
Despite an earlier error that saw a hole dug into a lane of the track, the city says a light pole at the Hammond Middle School field is exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Last week, Alexandria Living Magazine broke a story that new poles were blocking track lanes at Hammond Middle School. Jack Browand, division chief of Parks and Cultural Activities, said a mistake caused a hole to be dug onto the tracks, but said that damage has since been repaired and the current light pole is where it’s located in the approved plans.
The city is a victim of its own bureaucracy when it comes to parks, but a new zoning change (docket item 8) essentially lets the city get out of its own way to make park improvements.
A staff report said that the city is currently hamstrung by requirements that virtually any type of improvement or change at a park must go through the city’s special use permits (SUP), a lengthy process that involves public and city leadership hearings and review.
A set of bleachers built for the 2023 George Washington Birthday Parade earlier this year could end up at an Alexandria athletic field.
At a City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, the city is scheduled to accept the donation of the bleachers from the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association.
Alexandria’s Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities (RPCA) is looking for public comment on a plan to overhaul Eugene Simpson Stadium Park (426 E. Monroe Avenue).
RPCA said the community has identified several needs at the park that the new overhaul hopes to fix. Among major changes for the park is a change from natural grass and dirt to astroturf, along with changes like new trails, bleachers and more.
Alexandria has kicked off the new year with a glimpse at some of this year’s biggest priorities.
A memo from Director of Planning Karl Moritz, published ahead of Planning Commission meeting this Thursday, lays out some of the work priorities for the city over the upcoming year.
