Virginia Parks And Rec Group Honors Bill Bouie, RCC's Renovated Aquatics Center

RESTON, VA — Reston Community Center earned honors in two categories on Tuesday at the 2021 Virginia Recreation and Park and Society’s annual conference in Harrisonburg.

Bill Bouie, an RCC board of governors member since 2003, won the Distinguished Volunteer Service Award at the conference. In another category, the community center’s complete renovation of the Terry L. Smith Aquatics Center was chosen as the best new bricks-and-mortar renovation.

Both awards were for the population category of 50,001 to 100,000.

Bouie, a telecommunications executive and youth sports advocate, was recently named to his seventh term on the nine-member RCC board. He currently is the board’s vice chair.

“No one has embodied Reston values more than Bill Bouie,” RCC Executive Director Leila Gordon said in a statement Wednesday. “He believes in the power of each individual to contribute to the common good if they are given the tools to realize their potential. Bill makes us all better by showing us the example of someone who is a true servant leader and who loves building community.”

In 2020, Bouie advised RCC on the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies accreditation process. He also was a panel participant in RCC’s “Equity Matters” film discussions created in response to the death of George Floyd and the community's renewed focus on racial justice.

Bouie also serves as chair of the Fairfax County Park Authority Board, and he has served in leadership roles for the YMCA Fairfax County Reston, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Leadership Fairfax, Public Art Reston and Reston Herndon Little League.

In early 2020, Reston Community Center opened its renovated Terry L. Smith Aquatics Center. The $5.5 million project replaced a 40-year-old pool and its aging infrastructure with two new, state-of-the art pools: a 25-yard lap pool and a warm water exercise pool.

The project included water- and electricity-saving improvements, updated locker rooms, a new roof, recycling of materials and custom mosaic public art. The year-long construction project was completed while the rest of the building was open, causing minimal interruptions to other programming.

The project was completed under budget, with more than $800,000 in unused contingencies returned to RCC’s reserves, according to the community center.

The Virginia Recreation and Park Society is a nonprofit organization that works to unite professionals, students and the public in the field of recreation, parks and other leisure services in Virginia.

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