City Council Approves Renovation Plan For Del Ray's Largest Park, Synthetic Turf Discussed

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As city staff addressed concerns about synthetic turf to impacts of removing trees, a renovation plan for Del Ray's largest park received final approval Saturday from Alexandria City Council.

City Council accepted the Planning Commission's recommendation for Eugene Simpson Stadium Park's proposed renovations. Simpson Stadium Park, located at 426 East Monroe Ave., is a 16-acre park with two baseball fields, a tennis court, basketball court, dog park and more features.

The renovation plan resulted from 2014 public outreach on the needs for the park and additional improvements suggested in 2021. The plan includes synthetic turf on the Big Simpson baseball field, new bleachers and dugouts on both baseball fields, adding a concessions stand at Big Simpson, relocating the basketball court with new lighting, expanding parking spaces with 16 more spaces, extending hardscape trails to the northeastern part of the park, and more.

Abigail Harwell of the city's planning and zoning department told City Council the renovation project will increase tree canopy coverage from 12 percent to 25 percent as over 100 new Virginia native landscaping and trees will be planted and invasive species are removed.

"There are multiple benefits from the proposed renovated park addressing immediate needs of stormwater traffic and pedestrian safety, new native landscaping and athletic field facilities, but also longer term improvements that modernize the park for decades of use to come," said Harwell.

One part of the renovation plan that has gotten public attention is adding synthetic turf on the Big Simpson baseball field to improve drainage. Sports teams using the Big Simpson Field have been supportive of synthetic turf, as conditions on the field after rain can make the field unusable.

But some, like Del Ray resident Brian Collins, raised concerns to both the Planning Commission and City Council about the heat impacts of synthetic turf. Collins recorded temperatures at Jefferson-Houston's synthetic turf last summer and found temperatures exceeding 120 degrees. He also noted the 10-year lifespan of the synthetic turf mentioned by city staff.

"For climate change, it's just as important for us to minimize the amount of heat that's radiating from the earth as much as it is to address the amount of greenhouse gases that are trapping that heat," Collins told City Council in public testinomy.

According to Harwell, the city is using natural infill materials on new synthetic fields to reduce impacts of heat and be used for stormwater management.

Sherry Reilly, president of Alexandria Little League, told City Council excessive heat exhaustion and melted equipment are not concerns for the Alexandria Soccer Association and others using synthetic turf fields.

Reilly also spoke in support of synthetic turf and other improvements on behalf of leagues that share the city's two large fields — Big Simpson and Frank Mann Field. Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria Reds travel league, the American Legion league, Alexandria Little League teams, and Alexandria Aces collegiate league, use the two available large fields, which means they are in constant use during the spring, summer and fall baseball seasons.

"It is a crazy game of Tetris trying to fit all of these organizations onto our two big fields, and when weather becomes an issue, havoc is wreaked in terms of schedules," said Reilly. "With a synthetic turf field, we can at least get all of the games in a rainy season."

Conditions of the natural turf can be a concern for the busy field.

"The overuse by all these organizations can cause the grass on the field to become bare, which has a negative effect on drainage," said Reilly. "Synthetic turf fields are much more durable than natural turf fields and allow broader access for players and teams."

While synthetic turf is planned for the bigger baseball field, natural turf will be regraded on Little Simpson field for drainage purposes.

Aside from synthetic turf, neighbors' concerns were raised about the northwest part of the park adjacent to an alley and homes along Duncan and Bellefonte Avenues.

Del Ray resident Sebastian Norton said neighbors were concerned about a natural treeline between the homes and Richmond Highway being removed as well as green space the residents use. The renovation plan will add hardscaping like sidewalks, benches, and bike racks as well as a new landscaping buffer to replace the natural buffer.

"For those of you who have ever traversed through that area, it's kind of a wide expanse of green that's got a nice canopy and for those of us who have very little backyards due to the alleyway," said Norton. "It's really the only area where our children can play. My son grew up playing baseball in that area because the fields are always locked. Kids play soccer. People have picnics. This past Easter, a number of the neighbors who have younger kids had an Easter egg hunt in that area."

Bethany Znidersic, the city's division chief of park planning and capital development, said removing invasive species along the northeastern part is a requirement for development projects.

"We do have approximately seven trees in this location that are either listed as invasive species or in poor condition," said Znidersic. "So hearing the concerns from the community, we did offer that, in addition to adding additional landscaping, we could talk about the phased removal of those invasive species to comply with the landscape guidelines, but also allow some time to create the buffers to mitigate the noise and the visual impacts that the community has raised."

As for the sidewalks, Znidersic said community feedback identified the need for additional connectivity.

"Part of that is to create access for those with mobility constraints so that anyone can be able to access to park and we can be completely inclusive," said Znidersic.

Amid concerns about the basketball park being relocated next to the dog park, city staff proposed a concrete wall with high fencing. Dog park renovations, a separate project, will have "substantial completion" by fall 2023, but the final opening date depends on evaluating the condition of the sod and turf in the dog park.

The project is in the design phase. Final design for the park renovation is expected to be complete in January 2024. Construction could begin in fall 2024 and be complete in 2025.