Sully Parks Board Member Promotes Green Vision for Community

Fairfax County Park Authority Board member Hal Strickland has been working the past 20 years to ensure Centreville’s green spaces are not devoured by the concrete and pavement that is a byproduct of the area’s rapid growth. 

An engineer by trade, Strickland, 79, spent years overseeing civil projects for the U.S. Forest Service and used that experience to help manage “smart” growth in the western part of the county. The fact that Centreville has an abundance of green spaces, reflecting the old days when the area was a collection of gentlemen horse farms, is largely the result of the efforts of Strickland and the parks authority. 

“As a legacy, we wanted to preserve our green spaces and make sure that we didn’t get turned into they way things are inside-the-beltway,” where there is a dearth of open space, Strickland said. “We’ve tried to be smart about it and preserve the spaces that we already have before they get snapped up.” 

Strickland, the park board representative for the Sully District and an appointee of Supervisor Michael Frey, was recently selected to receive a National Voluntary Service Award by the National Recreation and Park Association. It’s given each year to the volunteer who does the most to improve recreation, parks, and conservation programs in the country. 

Strickland, a park authority board appointee since 1992, has a long list of accomplishments, including the establishment of a $10 million synthetic turf field program, the creation of a 4,000-acre assemblage of parkland holdings in Western Fairfax and the construction of the near . 

He is proudest of his efforts on behalf of the synthetic turf field program and the parklands acquisition. 

“When we started on the synthetic turf fields, everybody said they wouldn’t work,” said Strickland, who coached youth football teams in the past. “One we got them in, all the youth sports associations wanted them and those fields are always in demand.” 

The county parks authority has about two dozen fields, including the off of Route 28. Several more are on the line for completion later this year, Strickland said. The fields are popular because they are all-weather and aren’t closed because of rain or mud. Because they suffer less downtime than grass fields, more players can use the fields in a typical week and they pay for themselves in reduced maintenance over a number of years. 

Strickland is also happy with the creation of the parklands assemblage, preserving open space in Centreville and Chantilly that otherwise would have been gobbled up. “When the land becomes available, you have to move quickly,” he said. 

The parklands involved include the near Virginia Run and the Elklick Woodland Natural Area Preserve just off of Pleasant Valley Road. 

“We have set a high standard to provide the best in recreation activities,” Strickland said. “Parks are important to the quality of life in Fairfax County and we are providing a legacy for future generations.”