City Suggests More Walking Space, Community Orchard at Chinquapin Park

Alexandria’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Activities is proposing a new quarter-mile walking trail, synthetic turf field, dog park, public orchard and many more amenities to Chinquapin Park as part of its draft improvement plan.

Park planners have spent several months identifying a series of recommendations for each of the city’s large parks (those 20 acres or larger). Parks staff incorporated input from community meetings and online surveys for a list of suggestions.

After analyzing the feedback, 14 recommendations are proposed for Chinquapin Park, including some of most transformative elements of all the park draft plans.

Residents are encouraged to comment and state their preferences on the draft plan through a new survey.

The public comment process continues through the end of June. Park Planner Dana Wedeles said staff will refine the plans in July and August and hopefully bring the final plans to City Council in late fall.

The main focus on Chinquapin is adding walking space, Wedeles said.

“We’re trying to balance all of the uses, from athletics fields to gardens,” she said. “But the highest need is just a place to walk. Currently there are no continuous sidewalks. …We want to ensure there’s a safe place to walk. That’s why the plan includes a quarter-mile loop.”

The quarter-mile loop would be constructed within the the center of the park, within Chinquapin Drive. In the middle of the loop would be passive open space, ideal for throwing a Frisbee or spreading a picnic blanket.

A multi-use trail would also be established on the interior of Chinquapin Drive, creating more space for walkers and joggers.

The plan also suggests the addition of a non-regulation, synthetic-turf field in the western edge of the park behind T.C. Williams High School. It would be available for a variety of uses.

As part of the draft plan, the existing tennis courts would go away. Alexandria City Public Schools has plans to build six tennis courts on the north side of the T.C. Williams campus, with construction expected to begin in spring 2014.

• See: T.C. Williams Tennis Courts Could Come in 2014

In place of the existing tennis courts, basketball court and playground would be the study area to expand Chinquapin Recreation Center to build a new competition-size pool and expanded parking lot.

Alexandria City Council identified building a 50-meter pool as a priority in its capital improvement plan this spring. 

• See:

The playground and some athletics courts would be relocated to the center of the park. The athletic courts would then be paired with a fenced or contained dog park, Wedeles said.

The Chinquapin Organic Community Garden would remain unchanged as part of the plan (breathe easy, seed heads). The road that encircles the gardens and dead-ends in the northeast corner would be altered to loop completely around the plots.

The success of the community garden led planners to suggest the creation of a community orchard in the park’s southwestern corner. Containing a variety of native plants, Wedeles said the orchard would ideally be run by a citizen cooperative.

The layout of the public plant grove would mirror that of the grid of the Chinquapin Village War Housing Project, which was built in the park in the 1940s to house Naval workers at Old Town’s Torpedo Factory.

Other proposed changes include the creation of new soft trails in the park’s wooded areas, new tree plantings and new shelters throughout the park, including one at the community garden.       

Construction of much of the recommendations remains unfunded, but Wedeles said a plan should be in place when funding becomes available in the future.

Parks staff will hold a meeting concerning the Chinquapin Park draft plan at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 5 at Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill, located at 3606 Seminary Rd.