Boards, Commissions, and Councils
Our boards, commissions, and councils play a vital role in decisions, providing valuable expertise and diverse perspectives to ensure the community’s needs are effectively met.
Parks & Recreation Commission
At-Large Benita Fitzgerald Mosley
Brentsville District Vida Carroll
Coles District Jane Beyer (Vice Chair)
Gainesville District Rick Berry
Neabsco District Ross W. Snare IV
Occoquan District Brodie Freer (Chairman)
Potomac District Oriella Mejia
Woodbridge District Sharon Richardson
Trails & Blueways Council
Brentsville District
Chair Liz Cronauer
Vice Chair Catherine O’Connor,
Coles District
Michael DePue
Joe Marshall
Gainesville District
Ken Johnson
Duane Martin
Neabsco District
Rich Wilson
Jason Williams
Prince William County Parks Foundation
The Prince William County Parks Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), supports the community through a variety of fundraising initiatives aimed to support underserved communities and enhance the park system by assisting with resources to develop and sustain parks, facilities and programs.
www.pwcparksfoundation.com
PWC Arts Council
At-Large Davene Barton
Brentsville District Kelly Haneklau
Coles District Ronald E. Crigger
Gainesville District Unfilled
Neabsco District Larissa Miller
Occoquan District Dawne Horizons
Potomac District Catrina D. Stroman
Woodbridge District Unfilled
Occoquan District
Neil Nelson, Secretary
Eileen V. Sheridan
Potomac District
Steve Cover
Kimberly Palacios
Woodbridge District
David G. Brickley
Lynda N. Silverstrand
At-Large
William McCarty, Jr.
Amy Latalladi-Fulton
Prince William Historic Preservation Foundation
The Historic Preservation Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for the preservation program of Prince William County. The group also strives to increase public awareness of preservation and the steps to make the County’s historic treasures available to the public. This organization was founded solely for charitable and educational purposes.
www.preservepw.org
With a passionate staff of 1,500 full time, part time, and seasonal employees, the Department of Parks & Recreation strives to create recreational and cultural experiences for a more vibrant community.
We are proud to steward one of the most robust park systems in the United States. Residents and visitors can choose from 70 parks, facilities, and historic sites and 60 miles of trail spread across 5,000 acres of land, from the foothills of the ancient Bull Run Mountains to the mouth of the Potomac River. Each year, millions of visitors partake in our offerings, relying on us for their quality-of-life pursuits. We have the honor of playing a part in the lives of most residents. In fact, the 2024 Community Survey shows citizens have more contact with the Department of Parks & Recreation than all other service providers, with the exception of Libraries and the Office of Elections.
When factoring in our two national parks, state park, state forest, and two national wildlife refuges, and numerous state and private conservation areas, our county’s “green infrastructure” is the envy of the Commonwealth.
Our business model is simple: we create opportunities for all people to thrive.
The array of services we provide and the sheer number of people we interact with on a daily basis positions our department to serve as a lead collaborator in driving holistic community transformation across the entire county.
• We provide beautiful spaces for informal play, which is the foundation of healthy childhood development.
• We partner with private sports organizations to create opportunities for team-based, competitive play at every level, from beginner to elite on the finest turf fields in Virginia courtesy of our professional maintenance
• We provide hundreds of fitness and instructional all ages taught by certified staff that promote physical, and spiritual wellbeing.
OUR MISSION
Create recreational and cultural experiences for a more vibrant community.
OUR VISION
Be a lead collaborator in delivering solutions for holistic community transformation.
• We provide licensed childhood education, before and after care, and summer enrichment programs rooted in love of nature and love of neighbor.
• We partner with Prince William County Schools to bring their classrooms into our parks and historic sites utilizing stateapproved science and history curricula.
• We partner with conservation entities and volunteers to steward and protect our natural resources to ensure access to open spaces for future generations.
• We connect people to places along “nature’s roadway”—a network composed of 60 miles of multi-use trail.
• We research and preserve our historic resources and narrate the stories of our past so that we may better inform our future.
• We create safe havens for youth to build self-esteem and establish healthy habits.
• We nurture the workforce of tomorrow by serving as the largest employer of youth in the county, teaching vital job and leadership skills.
• We break down social divides and unify others through the shared love of recreation and nature.
• We curate our community’s brand identify, which is rooted in outdoor experiences and history.
• We help grow our local economy by proving tourism sites to serve visitors.
When peeling back the layers to uncover the far-reaching impact of parks and recreation services for communities like Prince William County it is abundantly clear, OUR WORK IS ESSENTIAL.
Some refer to parks and recreation as the “heartbeat” or “soul” of a community.
We see our industry as a “green engine” for community transformation, powering all the components that make up a high quality of life such as our environment, economy, health, education system, and cultural literacy. Every day, our department
works hard to live into our full potential to transform lives. We are in a constant state of innovation and self-assessment in order to stay relevant for our customers and set the standard for our industry.
Calendar year 2024 was filled with an abundance of accomplishments that fulfill our 7 strategic focus areas.
Focus Area 1, CREATING POSITIVE EXPERIENCES FOR GUESTS
AT EVERY TOUCH POINT, challenges us to provide a firstclass experience for guests during every interaction with our department, from the time they register for a program to the time they exit a park or facility. This requires impeccable customer service, competent program delivery, clean parks and facilities with modern amenities, and technology that simplifies not complicates.
In 2024 we:
• Launched the new RecMapper app that allows residents and visitors to locate their next recreation experience.
• Launched the Capital Project Dashboard to allow residents to view updates on active projects.
When it comes to providing great customer experiences, don’t just take our word for it. Once again, we were voted as one of the “Best Summer Camps” by the readers of Northern Virginia Magazine.
We also won numerous accolades from InsideNoVa’s Best of Prince William competition, including:
• Best Community Center for the Chinn Aquatics & Fitness Center
• Best Farmers Market for Dale City Farmers Market
“My son and I often walk at Hellwig Park, in particular a shady .9 mile loop, with our dogs. One day we met a very nice park Ranger on the loop and I took the opportunity to show him an intrusive root in the middle of the path that I had fallen over twice. This week we found that the root had been removed and the path had been smoothed over. I cannot remember the name of the Park Ranger, but I would like to thank him profusely for his attention to detail.”
Sincerely, Linda H.
• Best Dance Studio for Sharron Baucom Dale City Recreation Center
• Best Dance Instructor/Choreographer for Michelle Geoghegan
We also won numerous accolades from Prince William Times, including:
• Best Playground/Park: Rollins Ford Park
• Best Place to Bring Out-of-Town Guests: Neabsco Creek Boardwalk
• Best Preschool: Sharron Baucom Dale City Recreation Center
According to the 2024 Community Survey there is a 97% citizen satisfaction with the Department of Parks & Recreation staff, which is higher than nearly every other government agency.
In the same survey citizens reported 83% satisfaction with the quality of athletic fields and 83% satisfaction with the quality of recreation opportunities like trails, boating, fishing, and picnicking.
We attained an average Google rating of 4.2 for our three golf courses, besting many public and private courses in the region.
Focus Area 2, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT challenges us to create excitement and increased participation in our breadth of services—especially for underrepresented populations as well as harness the passion of parks and recreation enthusiasts to accelerate our mission.
In 2024 we:
• Hosted a KABOOM! playground build at Fairmont Park in partnership with Amazon Web Services
• Hosted a free youth girls basketball clinic and motivational talk about leaning into women’s sports with WNBA star and Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, Monica Wright
• Held “Rec on Wheels” mobile outreach events at Marumsco Acre Lake and Ellis Baron Parks in partnership with Libraries and the Office of Community Safety to celebrate National Parks and Recreation month
• Offered free movie nights at Veterans Park, Fairmont Park,
Financial Performance
Fiscal Years 2023 & 2024
and the Pat White Center
• Sponsored six Fridays at Five music events at the County Government Center plaza.
• Welcomed 16,000 visitors to our 3rd annual Holiday Walk of Lights
• Hit over 30,000 Facebook followers
Focus Area 3, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT challenges us to maximize the participation of employees in creating our future, support their professional development, recognize their achievements, and prioritize their well-being.
In 2024:
• Staff delivered presentations at the National Recreation and Parks Association conference in Atlanta, GA, Virginia Recreation and Parks Society Annual Conference in Norfolk, National Institute of Historic Preservation, Virginia Recreation and Parks Society, and Virginia Association of Museum Conferences
• Adrienne Lopez and Janet Bartnik obtained Certified Parks and Recreation Professional and Executive credentials
• Jamaal Hines, Senior Recreation Specialist at the Chinn Aquatic and Fitness Center, was selected as one of the 30 under 30 top professionals to watch by the National Recreation and Parks Association
• Director Seth Hendler-Voss was elected to the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and fellow Academy member, Deputy Director Janet Bartnik was awarded the presidents award
Focus Area 4, OPERATIONAL, PLANNING, AND BUSINESS
EXCELLENCE challenges us to embody best-in-industry standards, maximize new and existing tools to enhance service delivery, strengthen working relationships with other County, State, and Federal departments, and leverage partnerships to maximize resources.
In 2024 we:
• Implemented waitlist automation to reduce the staff hours required to track, manage, and enroll customers while
ensuring participant consistency and equitability.
• We began leveraging Placer.ai’s advanced location analytics to track and analyze visitor patterns across our parks. This cutting-edge technology provides us with valuable insights into visitor behavior, allowing us to make data-driven decisions that optimize visitor experiences.
• We secured $1,517,464 in grant dollars, furthering our effort to minimize sole reliance on tax-payer support.
Focus Area 5, SAFETY AND SECURITY challenges us to create a sense of security for visitors and limit injuries and harmful activities in our parks and facilities as well as ensure our employees make it home healthy at the end of each workday
In 2024:
• Our rangers conducted over 52,000 park and facility patrols
• Our lifeguards performed over 2,300 water rescues
• We achieved an exceeds score from the Ellis & Associates lifeguard safety audit
Focus Area 6, CULTURAL AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY challenges us to accelerate environmental and cultural stewardship through education and community dialog.
In 2024 we:
• Offered new environmental education programs for families such as Stream Explorers and Critters and Campfires.
• Held 19 park clean ups countywide, and had a total of 785 volunteers and 3,650 volunteer hours
• Acquired the Ned Distiller property in the Buckland historic district, site of one of the first houses in the United States mortgaged by an African-American
• Planted over 22 acres of evergreen and deciduous trees at Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park as part of our efforts to restore the historic landscape in conjunction with the Prince William County Department of Public Works Environmental Management Division
• Conducted 40 historic lectures/talks to organizations
• Welcomed nearly 130K visitors to our historic sites
• Reached an all-time high for Hands on History participants with nearly 3,500 students attending field trips at county historic sites
• Awarded the Virginia Association of Counties award for the Thoroughfare Oral History Project
• Hit record participation with our Science in the Park program with over 10,000 elementary schools students attending
• Placed 308 acres of Doves Landing Regional Park under a conservation easement
Focus Area 7, INCLUSION means we strive to embrace different viewpoints and backgrounds, develop accessible spaces, grow opportunities for inclusive and adaptive programs, and create an inclusive environment that is welcoming to everyone.
In 2024 we:
• Offered new adapted recreation programs such as adapted soccer program as well as a new adapted group swim class preparatory course
• Hosted over 2,600 Title 1 students in our Science in the Park program, a 17% increase from 2023
• Welcomed over 750 special ed students in grades K-12
• Partnered with the Prince William Parks Foundation to award over 120 needs-based summer camp scholarships through the Count Me In Scholarship program
• Partnered with Prince William Libraries to host four STEAM programs for middle school special education students at three locations across the county Calendar year 2024 was another period of tremendous capital investment in our park system. The Fiscal Year 2025 budget included a $1.2M increase in deferred maintenance funding to improve the functionality and accessibility of existing park as well as an additional $325K for trail maintenance, including the addition of 3 full time staff and equipment. We also completed nearly 60% of the $17M worth of American Rescue Plan
Act (ARPA) improvement projects. Our planning and capital construction team managed a caseload of 31 projects.
In 2024 we:
• Rededicated Braemar Park with a new playground, new pickleball courts, and accessibility improvements
• Broke ground on the new George Hellwig Memorial Park artificial turf field bond project
• Broke ground on the Howison Homstead Soccer Complex enhancement project—another bond project, which includes accessibility improvements, comfort station expansion, seating, and parking lot lighting
• Completed the new elevator addition at Pat White Center at Ben Lomond
• Broke ground on the Featherstone segment of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, a 1-mile natural surface trail that will connect the Rippon VRE station to Veterans Memorial Park
• Completed new accessible parking on Blackburn Road to provide more direct access to the Neabsco Creek Boardwalk
• Implemented James S. Long Regoional Park traffic mitigation improvements and additional parking
• Added lights on two fields at Catharpin Recreational Park thanks to financial support from Virginia Soccer Association
• Completed segment four bridge replacement for the Occoquan Greenway
In the coming year we will:
• Continue to execute the 2019 bond referendum projects for trails and parks, including the start of construction of the Fuller Heights Baseball Field expansion bond project
• Continue to make accessibility improvements and general enhancements to existing parks throughout our system using ARPA funds such as accessibility improvements to Logan Park below the Sharron Baucom Dale City Recreation Center and constructing new shelters at Veterans Memorial Park
• Break ground on the Hooes Run bridge crossing as part of the
Key Performance Indicators of Fiscal Year 2024
We utilize key performance indicators to measure our success in meeting our mission. In Fiscal Year 24 we achieved:
Occoquan Greenway, a 2019 bond project
• Complete the purchase of 175 additional acres of historically significant open space
• Pursue other open space acquisitions to inch closer to the Comprehensive Plan goal of adding another 5,000 acres by 2040
• Explore new partnerships with the Prince William Ice Center, Boys and Girls Club, and the National Hockey League
• Open the new Catharpin Park Splash Pad
• Publish the results of the 2025 recreation needs assessment to guide future recreation programming and capital investment
• Conduct a county trails master plan In closing, we continue to chip away at the Master Plan and Comprehensive Plan goals. Since both documents were adopted by the Board of County Supervisors, we have completed 20% of the capital projects identified, raised the park grade of 9 parks from “C” to “B” level, acquired nearly 300 acres of open space, added 8 miles of new trail, launched free community programs to promote family fun, health, and wellbeing, removed financial barriers to our fee-based programs through a new scholarship program, and attained national accreditation.
There is a lot of hard work ahead to realize the full vision we have set for our community. Now that we have gotten our arms around deferred maintenance needs, we will be challenged to increase funding for the large scale expansionary and visionary projects in our Master Plan, which have ballooned in cost since the plan was adopted and will grow more expensive by the day. With a weakened proffer system that once accounted for a major source of funding for capital projects, we will be more reliant on public funds, state and federal grants, and private partnerships.
Investment in parks and recreation pays the highest dividends of most public agencies when accounting for the industry’s recorded impact on economic growth, health outcomes, crime reduction, cultural literacy, clean environment, climate
resiliency, and education. Investment in parks and recreation is a proactive approach to building a stronger and healthier community. With limited funding available for a multitude of countywide needs, it will take all of us working together to forge creative solutions to help us achieve the ambitious goals we have outlined.
We could not have accomplished as much as we did in 2024 without the help of so many dedicated community partners, our sister county agencies, our passionate staff, our committed volunteers, our advisory board members, and you, our wonderful patrons, who trust us to provide lasting recreation and cultural experiences for you and your loved ones.
Together, we will build on our successes to reach new horizons to become the community of choice in Northern Virginia and set a model of excellence for the entire country. We are grateful for the trust you place in our department to provide for your recreation pursuits. Our wonderful staff is committed to ensuring you have an exceptional experience at every turn and ensuring we achieve our vision to transform our community.
May you strive to be your best self with Prince William County Parks & Recreation as your guide.
Should you have any questions or suggestions, our passionate and professional staff is always available to help. Please email us at helloparks@pwcgov.org. www.pwcparks.
