The rainy weather so far this summer may have slowed down some of the earth moving, but the hopes to have the first phase of Clemyjontri Park completed by November are still intact.
“We’ve started moving dirt for utilities in March and now we’re working on the storm water pond,” said Mark Holstein, a plan supervisor from the Fairfax County Park Foundation who has been spending many of his days at the 18-acre park site on Georgetown Pike.
Currently, the focus is on installing a storm water pond at the lowest point of the property, near Georgetown Pike at the northernmost end of the site donated by Adele Liebowitz to be preserved and transformed into a playground for children with and without disabilities to play together.
“Once the storm water pond is in place, we will start to move large quantities of dirt to even out the earth and then start building,” Holstein said.
When the earth is leveled out, the current low-lying area will be three to four feet higher than it currently is, he said.
Having been a part of the team working on Clemyjontri Park since its conceptual days, Holstein said seeing the project progress is “great. It’s always good to get stuff off paper and into the field and get things moving.”
THERE WERE SOME delays caused by a “soil issue,” said Judy Pedersen of the Park Authority. “We’re really going to start to see some progress here soon. We’re making sure we’re putting all our resources in the right place.”
The goal to have the first portion of the park, which will include some playground attractions and a carousel, completed by November remains in place, she said.
“We really want to fulfill Mrs. Liebowitz’s wish, and that helps keep us moving forward,” Pedersen said.
“There’s a lot of people putting a tremendous amount of effort into this, and we want to see it come along as smoothly as possible,” she said.
The long, tree-lined driveway will not change much once the park is ready for children to play on it, said Park Foundation chairman Bob Brennan. “We had to remove a few trees in order to help get the kids in and out, especially those in wheelchairs and those who will come in by specialized vans,” he said.
Originally, many of the mature trees alongside the driveway near the road were going to have to be removed to make the driveway wider, Brennan said, but the plans were redesigned to preserve the trees.
On the eastern side of the driveway will be a parking area, he said, and a van drop-off area will be paved on the western side, along with “an arbor which will be put in to protect the kids from the elements.”
Watching the park progress is “thrilling,” Brennan said. “Everyone wants it to come along faster, but it takes time. We want to make sure everything is done right. We’re all anxious to get it done, but it has to be done right for the kids.”
Equipment for the playground was ordered on Thursday, he said, a smile spreading across his face.
“If you close your eyes, you can hear the kids playing,” he said.
Another motivating factor is Liebowitz’s hope to ride around the park in a golf cart and enjoy seeing the children enjoy the park, Brennan said.
“This is her dream. What it means to the kids here in the county and to the kids who don’t have any place to play, that’s what keeps us going,” he said.