Groundbreaking Ceremony Held For New Franconia Government Center, Kingstowne Library

KINGSTOWNE, VA — Fairfax County officials held a groundbreaking ceremony in Kingstowne Thursday afternoon for a new combined facility that will house the new Franconia District government center, police station and the Kingstowne Regional Library.

The new 90,000-square-foot facility, projected to open in 2025, will be located on a county-owned vacant site in the heart of the Kinsgtowne area. The county said the new facility will limit the environmental impact by co-locating several county government services in one place.

“Replacing the aging Franconia Governmental Center has been a priority of this community for a long time, creating a great opportunity to co-locate services, improving efficiency and convenience,” Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, who previously served as Franconia District supervisor, said in a statement about the project.

The facility, with an estimated cost of $80 million, will include space on the first floor for the office of Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who is running for re-election this year. The Franconia Museum will also be located on the first floor, just off the building's lobby.

“Our community has experienced tremendous prosperity and growth since the construction of the current Franconia Governmental Center," Lusk said. "Our district’s residents deserve access to a facility that both reflects that growth and provides ease of access to the level of amenities that are commonplace across our county."

The new facility will be the largest magisterial governmental center in Fairfax County and will serve as a model for future mixed-use government centers across the region, he added.

When construction is finished, the Kingstowne library will switch from a community library to a regional library and will occupy about 30,000 square feet of the second floor of the building. The new library will get more seating, group study rooms, a brighter children’s area, and a teen zone with a gaming station.

"The sign announcing the future location of Kingstowne Library has been there for more than 20 years," FCPL Director Jessica Hudson said. "Staff tried to count how many times they've been asked about the new location, but it was an impossible task. Our visitors and staff alike are excited for the new location, which means space for additional programming."

Under the county's standards, a regional library should serve a population of about 100,000, while community libraries should serve a minimum population of 25,000, according to the Fairfax County Public Library Board of Trustees Policy Manual.

The current Kingstowne Community Library is 15,000 square feet in size and is located in a commercial area behind a strip mall at 6500 Landsdowne Centre Drive.

At the new facility, an active adult center will have about 7,200 square feet of space. A new childcare center will have about 10,000 square feet of space and will offer care to infants to pre-kindergarten children. Both will be located on the first floor of the new building.

The new Franconia Police Station will take up about 28,000 square feet of space on two floors of the building. The facility will also come with a large public garage and secure parking for the county.

Funding for the Franconia Police Station, including the Franconia District supervisor's office and the Franconia Museum, was approved in a 2015 public safety bond referendum. Funding for the library, including the active adult center, was approved in a 2020 library bond referendum.

The new building will be built on a site between Beulah Street, Silver Lake Boulevard and Interparcel Road, just south of Manchester Boulevard.