M a rc h 2 8 – A p r i l 3 , 2 0 1 9
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • Vol. X XIX N o. 6
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Women’s History March in F.C. Sunday
Beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, the Women’s History March in Falls Church will kick off from the area of the Tinner Hill Monument to culminate one mile up the road at Cherry Hill Park. See News Briefs, page 9
Aubrey Named F.C. Employee of the Year
Carly Aubrey, Principal Planner in Community Planning and Economic Development Services, has been named the 2018 City of Falls Church Employee of the Year, City Hall announced.
Crunch Time: Deals for New School & Economic Project Near Deadlines Rubble Before the Rise
Mid-May Target Looms to Keep All Parts on Schedule
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
mize delays in the completion of the year-long project, even as the Council also had to vote to spend an extra $27,000 on rent at its temporary 400 N. Washington digs due to delays that will keep it there until close to the end of April, almost three months after the work was supposed to be done.
Turning the corner into spring, in the manner to wit warmer temperatures attest this week, the target date for launching the next critical phase of the major development at the City of Falls Church’s west end is looming large, and includes some nail-biting concern for meeting contract agreements by the time the big day of Wednesday, May 15 arrives. On that date, as school prepares to let out for the summer at George Mason High, a first “guaranteed maximum price” (GMP) contract with the team of Gilbane, Stantec and Quinn-Evans, set to build the new high school, needs to get signed. It is no coincidence that it is also set to be the day that a “site plan exception” agreement, essentially a “go” for the development team selected for the project, is signed by the City with the developers of the 10.3 acre West End Gateway development on the site. All this is needed for the project to remain on schedule, School Superintendent Peter Noonan and F.C. City Manager Wyatt Shields told a town hall forum at the Community Center last Sunday in order for the flowering of the full, expected potential of the overall game plan to proceed as hoped. The president of the Falls Church Education Foundation, Cecily Shea, asked how this is going at the forum, saying that persons around town are wondering, even though there was no specific indicators of problems.
Continued on Page 4
Continued on Page 5
See News Briefs, page 9
Cauldron’s Newest is ‘Alice in Wonderland’
“Alice in Wonderland” isn’t just a performance but a showcase for the Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater program which is an intensive eight-week children’s theater course for kids ranging from age 7 – 13. See page 17
Mason Shuts Out Lee, Picks Up 3rd Win
Back in the saddle again, George Mason High School’s boys soccer team defeated Springfield-based Robert E. Lee High School Tuesday. See Sports, page 14
A SCENE FROM A post-apocalyptic Mad Max set, right in downtown Falls Church? No, this is what the 4.3 acre site of the future Founders Row mixed-use project, that will eventually sprout a movie theater complex, restaurants, retail and urban residential living options, looks like for now with the demolition of the old structures at the site. (Photo: News-Press)
City Hall Redevelopment Limps To Finish Line With Headaches
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial................ 6 Letters.................. 6 News & Notes.10–11 Comment...... 12–13 Sports................ 14 Business News.. 16
Calendar...... 18–19 Classified Ads.... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword......... 21 Crime Report..... 22 Critter Corner..... 22
After expressions of smooth sailing and copacetic vibes in voting a unanimous “first reading” preliminary approval for the coming fiscal year City of Falls Church budget, the City Council subsequently ran afoul of some heartburn at its meeting Monday night. With a budget coming
in at just under $100 million with no tax rate increase despite major projects, the Council is now compelled to cough up an extra $350,000 for last minute “change orders” to complete the $13.35 million City Hall renovation. The funds, according to City Manager Wyatt Shields, are technically for work already being done, due to the effort to mini-