4 Summer Community Meetings Scheduled to Discuss the Indor Rec Facility
The Board of Directors of the Reston Association now has scheduled four community meetings to hear from you on the idea of an indoor recreational facility.
There will be one meeting held in each of the four Association districts. The RA District Representative will host each listening and educational session. All members of the community are encouraged to attend the session in their district.
“The primary goals of these sessions are to get your responses to three main questions and to provide an historical overview of all the ways RA has worked to address the community desires for year-round swimming and tennis in the past,” said Robin Smyers, President of Reston Association.
The three questions are:
1. What do you think about the idea of a year-round recreational facility in Reston?
2. If you support the idea, what kinds of services would you like to see? What are your questions?
3. If you’re not supportive, what are your concerns?
No decisions have been made on the future of indoor recreational facilities in the community. The association has been working with the Reston Community Center through a joint task force to determine the feasibility of indoor recreation for the community.
Below are the dates and times of the meetings:
Hunters Wood/Dogwood District, hosted by Cheryl Beamer, RA Secretary & District Representative
Monday, June 22, 2009
7-9 p.m.
Hunters Woods Elementary School cafeteria
2401 Colts Neck Road, Reston
North Point District, hosted by Frank Lynch, District Representative
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
7 – 9 p.m.
Armstrong Elementary School cafeteria
11900 Lake Newport Road, Reston Association
Lake Anne/Tall Oaks District, hosted by Robin Smyers, RA President & District Representative
Thursday, July 9, 2009
7-9 p.m.
Lake Anne Elementary School cafeteria
11510 North Shore Drive, Reston
South Lakes District, hosted by Kathleen Driscoll McKee, RA Vice President & District Representative
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
7 -8:30 p.m.
Sunset Hills Montessori School assembly room
11800 Ridge Heights Road, Reston
So divide and conquer and manipulate the discussion through the questions – looks like RA really want input, just so long as it’s in agreement with them.
In answer to the first question – there are year round recreational facilities in Reston, lots of them. There’s the YMCA and other commercial health clubs and of course you can use the out doors all year round. There is a place that you may have heard of called Browns Chapel Park – baseball, tennis, basketball, walking, jogging, exercising. There is even seasonal variety – if we have snow for a few weeks there’s sledding, cross country skiing, walking, snow ball fights – and all in the healthy outdoors. All that at minimal cost and with a legacy for our children that we can be proud of. Let’s invest in preserving a gem like that.
I’d like to know why they are not taking advantage of the results of the recreation needs assessment already done by Fairfax County. Do they thing our needs are so different? Or did they not like those results since they clearly indicated that the priorities were the preservation (and even acquisition of more) open space? Indoor swimming and indoor tennis facilities were way down on the list. That study was a perfect example of how such a needs assessment *should* be done.
Once again, RA is heading in the direction of gathering ‘wants’ NOT ‘needs.’ Why not ask the questions in a balanced manner so people understand clearly what they will need to give up in order to have their new ‘wants’ satisfied. Massive new facilities like the one already proposed take massive new investments and a massive amount of already limited space – while causing a massive amount of new traffic from outside of Reston.