Reston Arts Center Site Approved By Fairfax Board Of Supervisors

RESTON, VA — Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a motion introduced by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn on Tuesday to accept Block J in Reston Town Center as the location of a future arts center.

In 2018, the board approved a proffered condition amendment from developer Boston Properties that identified Block J as a possible future site for a community-based arts center. The parcel of land is located at the intersection of Sunset Hills Road and Town Center Parkway, which is a short walk from the Reston Town Center Metro Station.

In June 2022, the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services and the Reston Community Center presented a feasibility study that determined Block J was an appropriate location for an arts center.

Related: Small Tax District #5 Not Solely Responsible For Funding Arts Center

Some in the community questioned how the project was going to be funded. They worried that approving the project without an identified source of funding would obligate Small Tax District #5 residents to pay for any future bonds taken out to fund the project.

At Alcorn's request, Boston Properties agreed to extend the deadline for a decision by six months to allow Reston residents more time to provide feedback on the project. The original deadline was July 31 and the new deadline was set for Jan. 31, 2023.

At the first meeting, Joseph Lahait, a debt coordinator with the Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget, confirmed that all county taxpayers and not just residents of Small Tax District #5 would be responsible for funding the project if the board of supervisors approved.

Representatives from various local arts groups, including the Reston Chorale, the Reston Community Players, and Arts Fairfax, advocated at both meetings for the performing arts center. They stressed the need for more rehearsal and performance facilities in the county.

"This process clearly established that the art center option is not only feasible but it is clearly superior to the alternatives offered in the proffer," Alcorn said, introducing the motion. "An art center located across the street from new Reston Town Center Metro Station not only fulfills land-use and transportation goals, but it is another step towards making the Dulles corridor a performing arts corridor."

By accepting the Boston Property's 2018 proffer on Tuesday, the board was only approving the location of the art center and not how it would be funded.

"Accepting this land is accepting it under the provision that it become an art center should financing be worked out," Chairman Jeff McKay said, seconding Alcorn's motion. "If for some reason that changes, there are other avenues that we could pursue in the future if that eventuality happened. I'm not suggesting that it would, but just making sure we know what our options are moving forward."