Grand Opening Of Lorton Community Center, Library Attracts All Ages

LORTON, VA — Hundreds of people gathered in Lorton Saturday afternoon to celebrate the grand opening of a community center and renovated library that Fairfax County officials expect will become the heart of Lorton.

The event, organized by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck, attracted residents of all ages who learned about the history of the $27.3 million project, which is the first time Fairfax County has co-located a library with a community center. The project also includes a new 1.7-acre Lorton Park.

“This facility combines services, resources, entertainment, education. It’s all in one place for all ages,” Storck said at the ceremony. “This is the Lorton hub, if you will, or truly the center of Lorton as we move forward.”

The community center features a gym, a fitness room, a kitchen, an art room, and a sensory room. The facility also includes space for the Lorton Senior Center and the Lorton Community Action Center, a nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance to those in need and a variety of community programs.

The youngest speaker at Saturday's ceremony was Ivan Robles, a 12-year-old Lorton resident, whose family has participated in programs at the Lorton Community Action Center. "Now I'm happy that they have built this new center here in my community where we will have the opportunity to have more programs and a safe space to play and study," Robles told the crowd.

The 10,000-square-foot library has been expanded by 6,000 square feet for a larger children’s area, increased seating, and more meeting and study rooms.

By joining the new library and community center with the renovated park space, the community is getting “the best of what our county has to offer,” Fairfax County Public Library Director Jessica Hudson told the crowd.

Lloyd Tucker, director of Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, whose office oversaw the community center component of the new facility, said its opening will provide important benefits to Lorton residents.

“It means opportunity, it means a place for them to gather and to make decisions for their community together and hopefully to continue in a tradition of civic engagement and enrichment that the community has asked for for a long time,” Tucker said in an interview with Patch.

The proposal to build a Lorton Community Center near the site on Richmond Highway has been on the drawing board for years. County voters approved a bond in 2016 to combine a new Lorton Community Center with the Lorton Library.

The Lorton Library, originally called the Lorton Mini Library, first opened in Williamsburg Square as a storefront location in 1980. The library at 9520 Richmond Highway in Lorton opened in April 1990. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new co-located community center and library was held in August 2020.

In his remarks on Saturday, Storck said the co-located facility is "so many things that Lorton has looked for and wanted to have for decades."

"I’m confident that when you walk inside, you’re going to go, ‘Wow,’” he said.

Gary Russell, Fairfax County Public Library Board of Trustee for the Mount Vernon District, which includes the Lorton library, said he expects many people who come to visit the community center will stop by the library — and vice versa.

During a soft opening of the facility on Oct. 10, Russell noticed a synergy between the staffs of the community center and library that the co-location was designed to promote.

Russell described the children's area of the library as bright and welcoming. "A story hour spontaneously developed [on Oct. 10]," he told Patch. "I’m sure the atmosphere engendered that."

The combined community center and library is part of a major investment by Fairfax County in the Lorton area. In June, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department crews moved into the new Lorton Volunteer Fire Station, a two-story facility with 23,000 square feet of space, at 7701 Armistead Road.

Fairfax County is also building a new South County Police Station in Lorton, which is scheduled to open in spring 2023. The site will also be home to Fairfax County's second animal shelter.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay emphasized that tremendous thought was put into designing “every square inch” of the library and community center so that it will accommodate the needs of all ages in the community for years to come.

“As somebody who grew up the Route 1 corridor not far from here, it is so good to see us making investments in this part of the county,” McKay said. “Look around you, because this is South County strong.”

The hours at the Lorton Community Center, at 9520 Richmond Highway in Lorton, are Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The co-located Lorton Library is open on Monday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.