County moves to buy vacant superstore for mental health facility

Planned ‘crisis receiving center’ would be the first of its kind in Va.

By Jill Palermo Times sTaff WriTer

The cavernous building near Potomac Mills that once housed a Gander Mountain sporting goods store is a work in progress – stripped to its concrete floors and bare walls over the last several months. But by late 2024, Prince William County plans to reopen the building as a “crisis receiving center” offering outpatient, overnight and short-term mental health care for adolescents through adults.

The model is the first of its kind in Virginia--most mental health facilities offer short-term or overnight care, but rarely both.

County budget hearing: Residents gripe about rising tax bills, page 3

By Jill Palermo Times sTaff WriTer

After representing the Brentsville District on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors for nearly a decade, Republican Jeanine Lawson announced Monday she will enter the race for at-large board chair.

Lawson, 53, said she aims to bring “commonsense leadership, integrity and a balanced approach” to the county’s leadership, which she said “is quickly moving in the wrong direction.” Lawson, the board’s longest-serving supervisor, was first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2015 and 2019.

See LAWSON, page 6

Local chef appears on national baking show, page 10