The Fairfax County Park Authority plans to replace the whole playground at Clemyjontri Park, and its own cost sheet shows the plan depends on private money. A design-phase estimate puts the project at $12,140,000 in today's dollars. The 2026 Park Bond would cover up to $5 million of construction, and the Fairfax County Park Foundation is expected to raise much of the rest. The public's first look at the design comes tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m., and what people ask for there affects how much of the finished playground the bond pays for.
A Park That Began With Conditions Attached
Clemyjontri was a gift. Adele Lebowitz donated the land at 6317 Georgetown Pike in March 2000 on several conditions: it had to stay a park permanently, and it had to include a large barrier-free playground with a carousel. The name joins the first letters of her four children's names: Carolyn, Emily, John and Petrina.
The playground opened in 2006 on 18 acres. FFXnow lists what set it apart:
- ramps up to elevated equipment
- lowered monkey bars
- swings with high backs and armrests
- rubber surfacing wheelchairs can roll across
- play elements that use Braille and sign language
- a carousel and some walking trails
Twenty years of crowds have worn all of it down. In a scope memo for the May 13 board meeting, Park Authority staff wrote that the playground "is considered one of the top playground destinations for children of all ages and abilities" and that "all play equipment has reached its lifespan and is in need of a total replacement." The county has repaired the equipment and replaced broken pieces along the way. The Director's Office decided that one more round of patching would not be enough and chose to rebuild the playground as a whole.
Two Price Tags in One Memo
The May 2026 board package explains the funding. The county used a selection committee to choose a designer, and it picked the landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt. Hoerr Schaudt pitched a base concept costing up to $4 million to $5 million to build, "including a flexible, expandable design." The Park Authority estimates the expanded version at up to $12.4 million.
A later slide in the same package breaks the money down:
| Piece of the project | Amount | Source of funds |
|---|---|---|
| Design and permitting | $1,345,000 | County General Fund sinking funds |
| Construction, base layer | Up to $5,000,000 | 2026 Park Bond, "Whole Parks" category |
| Construction, total | $10,795,000 | Bond plus fundraising |
| Total project | $12,140,000 | In today's dollars, escalated to 2033 |
The design money is already set aside. Construction is the open question. If the bond covers its full $5 million, about $5.8 million in construction costs remains, and the slide expects fundraising to cover it along with furnishings and equipment. These numbers are in 2026 dollars, and the slide marks them for escalation through 2033, so the gap could grow the longer construction waits.
Where Clemyjontri Sits Inside the $180 Million Bond
Fairfax County voters decided on the $180 million 2026 Park Bond on Nov. 3. In the Park Authority's proposed split, $89 million goes to recreation centers and $51 million to deferred capital renovations. The "Whole Parks" category, where Clemyjontri's construction money comes from, gets $19 million.
Up to $5 million of that $19 million is more than a quarter of the category, for a single playground in McLean. The bond materials don't name Clemyjontri as its own line item. The figure appears only in the playground's scope documents. The Park Authority's spokesperson, Andy Grabel, told FFXnow that the number is still being settled:
"After the public meeting on November 5th, we will have a better understanding of the total cost that is to be earmarked in the 2026 Park Bond. FCPA is also exploring other financial avenues to help this project."
That puts tonight's meeting earlier in the process than a typical design review. The bond earmark is still being sized, and the Park Authority has said public feedback will help set it.
How the Design Splits Between Bond Money and Donations
The Park Authority calls the design "scalable." Its project page says bond money "will support the base design," and community contributions "can help add additional amenities and enhanced features." The Fairfax County Park Foundation will start accepting donations soon. The board memo puts the Foundation in charge of fundraising, and the board presentation sets the fundraising kickoff for spring 2027, while design and permitting run into summer 2027.
In practice the playground is being designed in two layers. Public money builds the base, and private gifts pay for whatever goes on top. The order of decisions matters too. Hoerr Schaudt is gathering community input now, before the fundraising kickoff, so requests made this fall shape a design that donors will be asked to pay for in 2027.
So Clemyjontri's second version will rely on private giving, as the first one did. The difference is that the gift will come from many donors instead of one family.
What the Stations Will Ask Tonight
The meeting is in the Langley High School cafeteria, 6520 Georgetown Pike, a short drive east of the park on the same road. It starts at 6 p.m. There's no single presentation followed by a microphone line. People will move between feedback stations, each built around one topic:
- Honoring Clemyjontri's legacy while planning its future
- Expanding inclusive play and what inclusion means today
- Design inspiration from Fairfax County's ecology, culture, history and communities
- Preferred kinds of play experiences and structures
- Park aesthetics, including landscaping, materials, textures and sensory elements
- Making the park work for visitors of all ages at once
The project page's design goals go past the play equipment. They call for a "cohesive and holistic park design" that plans equipment, shade, seating, circulation, accessibility and gathering spaces together instead of as separate pieces. They also call for easier walking routes through the playground, planting and stormwater work that fit the surrounding land, and a design that "reflects the diversity of Northern Virginia's communities." Shade, seating and paths are the parts caregivers use every visit, and they will compete with play structures for the same budget lines.
Anyone who can't make it tonight can comment on the PublicInput page until 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7, 2026.
The Rest of the Park Keeps Its Plan
The redesign covers only the playground. Grabel told FFXnow that the park's master plan, last revised in 2022, stays as written. That revision allowed an arts center as the park's next phase. FFXnow reported the arts center is unlikely to happen, because McLean Project for the Arts, the group that pushed for it, opened a new arts and education center in downtown McLean instead.
So the rest of Clemyjontri's 18 acres will stay largely as they are for now, and this fall's changes are concentrated on the playground.
The Calendar From Here
The board package and the Park Authority's statements set out these dates:
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 6 p.m.: first public meeting, Langley High School cafeteria
- Monday, Dec. 7, 5 p.m.: online comment deadline
- Early 2027: at least one follow-up community meeting, according to FFXnow
- Summer 2026 to summer 2027: design and permitting
- Spring 2027: Park Foundation fundraising kickoff
- Construction: "TBD by 2033"
After design is done, staff plans to go back to the Park Authority Board for construction approval, using bond funds and fundraising together. The budget that board sees will depend on the bond earmark and on how much donors have pledged by then.
At Caitlin Platt, we follow public projects like Clemyjontri closely because shade, materials and good circulation shape the places our clients use every day. If you'd like to talk about how the Georgetown Pike corridor is changing around the park, schedule a consultation.
