Travelers up and down Belmont Ridge Road in the Brambleton area know something is being built there behind the baseball fields and thick trees — but it’s hard to get a good look at what’s happening.
Yes, as The Burn has been covering for the past seven years — it’s the new Reservoir Park — a major nature and recreation area under construction on the southeast shores of the Beaverdam Reservoir. But we want to see it!
So The Burn reached out to the Northern Virginia Parks Authority and got some updates from communications director Kelly Gilfillen, in quotes below.
The recent drone photos show “the welcome center and crew/rowing facility buildings coming together, along with the pier that extends from the future boat launch and rental area.”
“After the initial draw down of the reservoir’s water level last fall to complete pier structures, the reservoir is now refilling naturally.”
“Once water levels are safe to allow recreational activities, water access will be reopened at the Mount Hope Road access point.”
“The innovative park design includes an entrance road, parking lot, welcome center, restroom building, crew facility, boat rental facility, several pavilions, trails, waterfront boardwalks, a bridge, plantings, site utilities, educational exhibits, and various other site features.”
The new park is a joint project between NOVA Parks and Loudoun Water. The agencies remind locals that — “as an active construction site with heavy equipment, it is unsafe for pedestrians and motorists to enter the new park site and access remains prohibited.”
The grand opening of Reservoir Park is expected sometime in in the spring or summer of 2024.