Arlington to Open Long Bridge Park on Potomac River
November 02, 2011
- County transforms 18-acre “brownfield” to stunning urban recreation site
- Accessible recreation space offers views, playing fields, pathways and more
- Marymount University fully funded costs of building one field
ARLINGTON, Va. – Arlington County will open Long Bridge Park, offering stunning views of the Capital monuments and a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities, with a public ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. Nov. 5.
Located north of Crystal City, adjacent to I-395, the 18-acre park is Arlington’s most breathtaking public space, offering panoramic views across the Potomac of the Capital monuments. It also features an intricate network of highly accessible walkways and three full-size, multi-sport, synthetic turf athletic fields. Lighted and built to NCAA and FIFA standards, the fields will nurture homegrown talent and bring world-class events to Arlington.
Marymount funds a field
In a partnership with Arlington County, Marymount University is fully funding the construction cost of one of the athletic fields and will support the field’s operational and maintenance costs, in exchange for non-exclusive use of the field for all of the University’s soccer and lacrosse team practices and home games.
A dramatic esplanade unifies the park and reconnects it visually and physically to the Potomac. The half-mile long elevated public space, lined with cherry trees and running parallel to the CSX railroad tracks, offers room for strolling, bike-riding and some of the County’s most scenic views. Well-placed seating allows visitors to relax and watch sports, birds, passenger and freight trains, and planes landing and taking off at National Airport.
“This beautiful park will offer recreation, relaxation, and natural beauty to generations of Arlingtonians,” said County Board Chairman Christopher Zimmerman. “From the early days of the Republic, the historic Long Bridge was the original gateway to Northern Virginia from the nation’s capital. Now, Long Bridge Park provides an appropriate gateway to Arlington. This dramatic transformation of a brownfield, industrial site demonstrates Arlington’s commitment to our natural environment and to creating great public spaces that help build community.”
Sustainable practices
Sustainability and energy efficiency were high priorities in the design and engineering of Long Bridge Park. Cleanup and transformation of the former industrial “brownfield” garnered the park the prestigious conservation priority designation from the Smart Growth Alliance in 2008. Long Bridge Park was cited as the “largest recent effort to restore, preserve and interpret public open space along the urbanized Potomac and its tributaries.”
Among Long Bridge Park’s special features:
- Rain gardens– two larger rain gardens and several mini-rain gardens direct runoff from the park’s sports fields and parking lot over a natural sand “filter” and into a planted garden of native shrubs and perennials.
- Esplanade – built from on-site soils and encpsulated lead-contaminated soil that once prevented the site from reaching its potential -- saving money and reducing the project's carbon footprint.
- Recycled soil from the County’s sewage treatment plant was used to help build the park – saving money and helping the environment.
- Athletic Field Lighting – uses dark-sky technology, which minimizes light spillage, and controls glare and sky glow.
- The Trellis – shaded walk with spectator seating, restrooms, storage and featuring the “Wave Arbor” artwork by Doug Hollis.
- 6th Street Gardens – areas for seating and contemplation opposite the recently approved new Boeing development with an efficient low water use irrigation system throughout the park.
- Dark sky lighting.
- Porous concrete to minimize the amount of non-pervious surfaces in the park.
- Innovative program to treat and keep formerly contaminated soils on site, reducing the need to import fill and reducing the project's carbon footprint.
Future phases also will be eco-friendly. The County Board-adopted master plan for Long Bridge Park calls for the addition of an aquatics, health and fitness center in a later phase. The center will be designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program Silver rating, and will include an Olympic-sized swimming pool designed for recreational, fitness, and competitive aquatics—including a 10-meter diving platform. Also planned are an indoor fitness area and an indoor multi-activity center suitable for indoor field sports or community gatherings, an expanded esplanade for outdoor activities, and a fourth full-sized rectangular field.
Public art incorporated in design
Wave Arbor, a kinetic, wind-activated sculpture created by Doug Hollis, was commissioned for the park. The sculpture is made of perforated, anodized aluminum wing forms supported by a painted steel armature.
As wind blows through the Arbor, it sends the array into a rocking, wave-like motion. The perforated double-skin of the wings creates a moiré’, or rippled, pattern as one looks up through them, and cast dynamic shadows on the paving below, creating a rhythmic shade structure. At the tips of each wing are solar-powered LED lights, punctuating the motion of the Wave. There is also a line of up-lights in the paving that illuminate the array at night. Seen from the adjacent street, the Arbor acts as a lure -- beckoning people to enter the park.
Best urban landscape design
The design, representing the very best in urban landscape, both makes the park a destination and serves as the foundation for future phases. It offers improved biodiversity through landform niches of native and adapted planting, and prepares the way for the park's planned extension, the addition of the aquatic and recreation center, and construction of a pedestrian connection to the Mt. Vernon Trail.
The park design team was led by a core site group consisting of Hughes Group Architects (architecture), Hargreaves Associates with LSG (landscape architecture) and CH2M HILL (remediation). This core group worked closely with County staff and the Board-appointed Long Bridge Park Design Advisory Committee over many years.
Background
On February 1, 2004, the County Board adopted the North Tract (later Long Bridge Park) Task Force’s “Master Plan for the North Tract Park and Recreational Facilities and the Surrounding Area”In November, 2004, County residents approved a $50 million bond to support initial development of Long Bridge Park. On January 29th, 2008, the Arlington County Board approved “Long Bridge Park” as the name of its newest park.
For more information on Long Bridge Park, visit the County’s website
