Dear Arlington County Residents:
We believe that the Lubber Run Community Center (LRCC) has a critical role to play in preserving a green, urban oasis to serve the recreational, social and educational needs of an expanding, diverse and vibrant population in central Arlington. With the increase in density and the thousands of new residents in the Ballston area, the demand for recreation and outdoor amenities continues to rise.
We do not believe that a joint-use project that combines vital and desirable Community Center functions with an 800-1,200 student school, or with high-density housing can be built on the 5.5-acre site without significantly reducing green space, eliminating old growth trees, impacting the adjacent stream or requiring costly remediation of traffic issue
We look forward to a new, ADA-accessible community center that offers programming in conjunction with nearby resources, provides additional opportunities for the adjacent, overcrowded Barrett Elementary School and further expands services for some of the County’s neediest families.
We, the undersigned, petition the Arlington County Board to support the 20-year deferred renovation of the outdated and ADA non-compliant Lubber Run Community Center (LRCC) and to adhere to the schedule outlined in Arlington County’s current Capital Improvement Plan that calls for facility design to begin in 2016, construction to begin in 2019 and completion in 2021. An essential component of the renovation must be the preservation and enhancement of LRCC’s open spaces, playground and outdoor recreation facilities that are increasingly rare amenities in the growing, densely populated greater Ballston area.
