New park on the way

Culpeper County officials are hoping the crack of softballs may soon echo across the same fields as Civil War cannon fire.

The Board of Supervisors took the first step this month to bring more recreation to the county in the form of a new park.

At its June 3 meeting, supervisors approved up to $65,000 to study and design the new park, which would be located near Stevensburg.

The property, donated to the county about a year ago, is located on Stevensburg Road about a half mile south of Route 666. The 84-acre site is minutes from the new Eastern View High School.

“I think it’s going to turn out to be a good deal for our citizens,” said Cedar Mountain District Supervisor Larry Aylor.

Aylor, also chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, recommended the county name the site Lenn Park, in honor of the family that donated the land to the county, a recommendation the Supervisors granted. Aylor spoke very highly of the Lenn family.

“They have always been really nice people and did a lot for the county, and I guess now they wanted to do something for the county,” Aylor said. “It’s nice when that happens.”

A monument marks the site where federal troops under the command of Col. Alfred Duffie rode from Kelly’s Ford to Stevensburg in a futile attempt to rid the area of Confederate troops June 9, 1863. Union troops posted on a hill fired on the Confederates, killing Will Farley, a scout, and wounding South Carolina Col. M.C. Butler.
In addition to the softball fields, the park will also include a walking trail, an area for model airplane enthusiasts and parking, said John Barrett, the county’s Parks and Recreation director.

“We’re looking at this being more an area for adults to play in,” he said. “We projected at one time that we’d like to try to put four (fields) on there,” Barrett said, but that might slip to three instead depending on the outcome of design studies. “That’s basically going to depend on the layout of the land and what it’s going to be able to give us — a lot of its wetlands.”

Barrett said lighting for the athletic fields will not be included in the initial construction but the means to add them later will be designed into the initial construction. The county has asked Fairfax-based Dewberry to design the park, Barrett said.

“We’re going about it in a unique way,” said County Administrator Frank Bossio, explaining that students from the GWC Piedmont Technical Center will be involved.
Heavy equipment students will perform most of the site work as part of their training and “all we have to do is pay for the fuel,” Aylor said.

Barrett said no timetable has been set to design or construct the facilities, but he estimated the design work would take about two months to complete.

Barrett described the county’s existing recreation facilities as limited and praised the county for its proactive planning.

“The county doesn’t have any ball fields except at the sports complex,” Barrett said. “The need is there, and we haven’t addressed that need.”

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or