Fairfax Co. Board Approves $300K In Funding To Replace Lake Accotink Playground

SPRINGFIELD, VA — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted last Tuesday to approve $300,000 in funding for the Fairfax County Park Authority to replace the playground at Lake Accotink Park as part of the board’s third quarter review of funding adjustments to its budget.

Due to safety concerns, the old playground equipment at Lake Accotink Park was removed on May 2. The playground was installed in 1995 and had been closed since November 2022 due to equipment damage. The playground could not be repaired because the original equipment vendor is no longer in business, according to the county.

Since the same vendor was used for other playgrounds across Fairfax County, an additional $100,000 was included in the third quarter review for the Fairfax County Park Authority to conduct a safety assessment of the other playgrounds and develop a plan for remediation or replacement.

The Fairfax County Park Authority will be presenting the community with a concept design in the coming weeks for the new playground at Lake Accotink Park, according to Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw. The timing of the installation of the new playground, though, will depend on the availability of the playground equipment.

"As the parent of a toddler, I know how important our playgrounds are to the community," Walkinshaw said in the May issue of The Braddock Beacon, released Friday. "Accelerating the replacement of the playground at Lake Accotink Park will ensure that families can once again enjoy all that the park has to offer!"

Lake Accotink Park receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, with the playground, located near the park's marina, as one of its central amenities.

In the third quarter review, the Board of Supervisors looked at unexpected surplus received during the current fiscal year to see how those funds should get redistributed.

Other adjustments in the third quarter review package that was approved by the Board of Supervisors were $8 million to support affordable housing, $1.7 million to support recommendations from the Girls’ Fastpitch Softball Equity Action Plan Review Team to address disparities between girls’ softball and boys’ baseball facilities, $300,000 to supplement the collection of Fairfax County Public Library, and about $217,000 for the county's illegal sign removal program.

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