Thaiss Memorial Park

I live in the Mantua neighborhood adjacent to the park, and I have young kids.

I love the multigenerational park concept, but might it be possible to create a tot lot with a short fence or physical separation between the areas for kids up to age 5 versus larger children? When play equipment for children of all ages is together, two problems happen. First, larger children run around and play on the equipment intended for younger children and create safety problems (think 12 year old running and colliding with a 2-year old). Second, smaller children constantly try to play on the equipment intended for larger children, which is difficult to prevent in a crowded park when you're managing more than one child at a time. These problems get particularly bad when the playgrounds are overrun during little league games, because some parents do not supervise their older children on the playground. What ends up happening is that parents with younger children end up having to avoid these bigger playgrounds, which is rather contrary to the multi-generational concept.

It seems like the plan prioritizes separation for adult equipment from the kids, but putting the kids together creates a safety issue--isn't safety a paramount concern, from a planning perspective?

Overall, the project is good and an improvement to the current situation. However, it could be improved with the addition of bike infrastructure (lanes connecting the trail to the park and the street, bike parking, bike tools and tire inflating station). The parking lot and the entry/ exit driveway need to have sidewalks and a pedestrian crossing at the intersection with Picket. Finally, there is no need for more parking space. The park needs to be adapted to next 50 years, meaning it has to be renovated in a climate-smart way: meaning electric car recharging station, better bus shelter, and drainage for torrential rains.

I wish you could move the parking away from the fields to the other side of the tunnel (across the street on Pickett Road).

You have come up with a beautiful plan.

I like the changes and a few things in particular stand out:
1) Expansion of the playground
2) Addition of the new building, including the meeting space and restrooms to replace the rundown building that exists today
3) Addition of parking. It's a mess now for anyone who has been there on a baseball night.

You really need to reconsider safety, especially since kids will be using Thaiss extensively. As previous commenters noted, Field 2 needs to be turned. Otherwise, batters are staring into the sun for any night games and someone is going to get hurt. That field is likely to become useless quickly in its current state. You also need to make sure protective netting surrounds the baseball fields, especially near the playground. It isn't there today and I'm amazed that more kids haven't been hit by a baseball while we're there.

I am ecstatic that Thaiss is finally getting updated! We need better baseball fields and more parking. Our baseball facilities are an embarrassment to the community and are in dire need of refurbishment.

A couple of points to note:
- I would recommend using turf on the three fields as this area is prone to flooding when it rains and often leads to a lot of cancelled baseball games. Turf will help ensure the fields are used more often.
- Field 2 is looking directly into the afternoon sun when weekday games are played, which is a huge safety issue. I recommend the positioning be changed.
- I recommend the playground area be reduced in order to accommodate 2-3 additional covered batting cages, which is incredibly necessary since the number of fields are being reduced. Fairfax LL does not have enough fields for kids to practice, so by adding batting cages this will provide teams a place to practice while games are going on.

Overall, I like the update. But there a few significant things that need to be altered in order to make the plan worth it. First, the fence distance for Field 1 should be at least 195'. This will enable more use for a wider number of baseball levels. Second, there should be high protective netting installed on all fields down each baseline in order to protect passerbys from foul balls. Third, the orientation of Field 2 is incorrect. The sun will be in the batter's eyes for all evening games. I suggest changing it so home plate is backed up against the parking area.

I would also look into the price difference to turf all of these fields instead of using grass. This would be more expensive upfront, but help with upkeep and use in the long run. We could look into other funding mechanisms to cover the difference.

The Playground looks like fun. It looks like there might be some cool CLimbing structures which my older Elementary aged kids are always looking for. Bathrooms are a real positive.

I would think it would make so much sense and save money over the long haul and keep up with surrounding leagues and give more kids ability to play by switching to the plan to use Turf instead of real grass and dirt. that way kids can play when it rains a little and don't have to worry about destroying the fields. Field 1 should be bigger (i.e. 200ft down the left and right lines) and please looking into shifting home plate on the new fields away from the setting sun or provide sun screens to block it out of the kids eyes. Also, protective screening for the cars in the parking lot and playground is a must. There are screens for the parking lots now, but not the kids playground, which seems odd. Batting cages don't look like they are marked, but might be in there are a must as well.

I'm opposed to turning five fully functional Little League fields into three fields, all of which will be too large for Tee Ball or Single A games, just to add 50 percent more parking. The fields and facilities definitely could use an upgrade, but there's a way to do that for a lot less than $8 million that would keep the same number of fields and maybe add some more parking. But I have a feeling that the entire motivation for this redevelopment is to significantly expand the parking, which conveniently would benefit the city facility across the street. The ball fields are an afterthought, as evidenced by proposing Field 2 face directly into the setting sun.

This is an improvement over the existing conditions but there are several changes that I strongly advocate for.
1. Make a stronger pedestrian connection between the Cross-county trail and the park. Weekly I walk from Santayana Drive through the park to access the Trail and the experience is not great.
2. Either add a crosswalk across Pickett Road at the Driveway entrance with a HAWK Beacon or something similar or improve the crosswalk at Old Pickett Road and Pickett Road. Make it a 4-way crosswalk and increase the sidewalk width on Pickett. The park is isolated from the surroundings because of the design of Pickett Road and pedestrian improvements are critical to making the park integrated better with the community. This would also help promote people walking instead of driving to it and allow for potential overflow parking in other locations nearby.
3. Parking should be reduced. Find alternative locations for overflow parking elsewhere. Do not build the additional proposed lot. If you must build parking, use permeable pavers and shade the lots with more trees. The proposed lot, if built, should be better screened from Pickett Road. With this design, all that anyone will see from Pickett is parking.
4. Better Lighting should be added under the trail bridge underpass.
5. Rather than building another walking trail, why not integrate that into the Cross-County Trail.
6. Generally, there's too much pavement proposed in a sensitive area near Accotink Creek. Find more permeable solutions and reduce paved areas in general.

This looks great! Are the field large enough to use for Little League Tournament play? (the outfield fence must be a minimum of 195' and a maximum of 225' from home plate). A lot of Little League District champions grew up on those fields.

Field 2 is looking directly into the afternoon sun when weekday games are played. This is a safety issue. There is a reason why every field (except on where home plate is under heavy shade) currently faces the other way.

Does the planned stormwater management include someway to mitigate the river of water that comes off the New School parking lot every time there is heavy rain?

I don't really understand you would want little kids running around when errant fly balls can hit them. It also creates more pressure on the parking situation. A covered batting cage facility for use when it rains would be far more useful.

Please consider using Bermuda grass. It is easier to maintain and less prone to forming undetectable uneven surfaces.

Looks great! I would suggest trying to get the Washington Nationals to fund some of the improvements as part of their partnership with Fairfax Little League.

I really like the addition of a drop off zone as well as more parking. It’s been a mess over there for a long time for parking. Playground is great for the siblings stuck at a baseball game for another sibling.

As with the proposed Van Dyck Park renovation, please consider the addition of a dog park. The playground renovation is long overdue, and the walking track is a nice addition. The baseball fields are appreciated and well-used, but what is the City of Fairfax doing for softball players? Is there no Title IX requirement for parity, or at least some resources for our developmental-level softball players?

Please do not include such a large playground. That space could be better utilized by having a 4th baseball field. 3 is not enough for the number of children that play baseball. If you want to improve playground facilities, fix Van Dyck or Kutner. Taking away baseball fields and adding a playground and a half court basketball area is contrary to what that space is used for. A half court is useless for actual games.
I agree with the need for stormwater updates but it would have been useful to force the recently built housing above Thaiss to contribute towards that in some manner.