How the Northern Virginia Regional Park
Authority
Connects with the City of Alexandria’s
Strategic Plan
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) has
its own 5-year Strategic Plan that was adopted in 2012. NVRPA’s plan is a living document that is
strongly integrated into its annual budget and guides all programs and
activities of the Authority. One of the major focuses of NVRPA over the last decade has been to become a strategic plan focused organization. This transformation has lead to great growth and development of the organization, and greater value for the public.
NVRPA Strategic Plan: www.nvrpa.org/park/main_site/content/planning
8 minute video on NVRPA's Strategic Plan: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeWmerd6MlI
While the City of Alexexandria's plan was developed primarily to guide the
activities of City government, below are some of the ways that NVRPA actions
are supporting the goals of the City.
Alexandria's Strategic Plan: http://alexandriava.gov/StrategicPlanning
Goal #1
Alexandria has
quality development and redevelopment, support for local businesses and a
strong, diverse and growing local economy.
NVRPA’s two parks in the City, Carlyle House in Old Town,
and Cameron Run/Great Waves on Eisenhower Avenue, are both economic engines for
the City.
·
One of the City goals is to “increase the appeal
of King Street and the Waterfront to shoppers and diners.” As a major historic
tourist attraction in Old Town, the Carlyle House Historic Park contributes
greatly to the historic charm of this area that draws so many visitors. For 2014, the Carlyle House is projected to
attract 16,700 visitors who might otherwise not be patronizing Old Town shops.
·
Cameron Run/Great Waves is considered to be one
of the top waterpark attractions in the greater metropolitan area. As such, this waterpark attracts 92,000 visitors
each year. While many of these visitors
are from Alexandria, many other visitors from other parts of the region are
coming to this attraction in Alexandria and are spending money in the community
contributing to the tourism economy. Some
of the economic results of this include:
o
Over 60 local people find summer employment at
Great Waves.
o
Many local contractors benefit from the purchase
of all sorts of supplies needed to run this operation.
Goal #2
Alexandria respects,
protects and enhances the health of its citizens and the quality of its natural
environment.
While the two NVRPA parks in Alexandria are urban in nature,
NVRPA has over 11,000 acres in the Northern Virginia region, with about 90% of
this land being in a natural state. As a
result of this, Alexandria citizens not only benefit from cleaner air and water,
but are able to camp, hike, fish and enjoy wonderful natural places within easy
range of the City. All the drinking
water for Alexandria comes from the Occoquan Reservoir, which is protected by
nearly 4,000 acres of NVRPA parkland.
Goal #3
A multimodal transportation
network that supports sustainable land use and provides internal mobility and
regional connectivity for Alexandrians.
Connected to Alexandria via City trails, is the W&OD
Trail, owned and operated by NVRPA. This
45-mile paved trail is the central spine of the bike trail network in Northern
Virginia, and its trailhead in Shirlington is accessed by many Alexandria
cyclists.
Cameron Run/Great Waves is connect with a well-used bike
path, and is within a short distance of two Metro Stations. Carlyle House is in
the highly walkable Old Town area with good bus service available.
Goal #4
Alexandria is a
community that supports and enhances the well-being, success and achievement of
children, youth and families.
At Cameron Run/Great Waves, over 60 local youth get
meaningful summer employment. In many
cases, this is a first-time work experience for these young people. From this summer employment, they learn skills
for life, and are part of a safe and structured environment during the summer.
Starting in the summer of 2013 and going forward, the
Carlyle House is offering an educationally rich summer camp experiences for
young children. Also at the Carlyle
House, over 1,400 local school children are participating in field trips that are tied to the Standards of
Leaning.
Goal #5
Alexandria is
financially sustainable, efficient, community oriented and values its
employees.
NVRPA follows the City’s focus on sound financial
management. For the last six years,
NVRPA has received both the ‘Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in
Financial Reporting’ and the ‘Distinguished Budget Presentation Award’ from the
Government Finance Officers Association.
NVRPA puts a great deal of attention on developing diverse
funding sources. As a result of this
focus, the percentage of operating funding that comes to NVRPA from Alexandria
and the other five member jurisdictions has gone down annually. Currently, only 16% of the operating revenues
come from the member jurisdictions, with the remaining 84% being generated by a
wide variety of self-funded enterprise operations.
Goal #6
The City protects the
safety and security of its residents, businesses, employees and visitors.
With the large number of visitors at Cameron Run/Great Waves,
NVRPA regularly hires off-duty Alexandria police officers to provide security
and safety on busy days.
Goal #7
Alexandria is a
caring and inclusive community that values its rich diversity, history and
culture, and promotes affordability.
The Carlyle House is a key part of the attractions that make
Old Town a heritage tourism destination center and economic engine for the
City. NVRPA collaborates closely with
the City’s Gadsby’s Tavern and Apothecary Museums on programs and marketing
focused on historic tourism.
To promote economic accessibility of facilities like Great
Waves, NVRPA started a program four years ago that allow youth to work as volunteers
and earn credits towards entry to NVRPA fee-based facilities.
