Mosaic Park

538 N. Pollard St.

Status

Complete

Join us for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Mosaic Park project! Learn more.

Start Date for Planning or Design: 3rd quarter 2012

End Date for Planning or Design: 4th quarter 2018

Start Date for Construction: Mid April 2019

End Date for Construction: 4th quarter 2020

About the Project

Mosaic Park is NOW OPEN!

The park is filled with exciting features including a multipurpose court, rain garden, flexible-use lawn area, and a children’s play area– complete with a colorful climbing wall. Natural landscaping includes 144 newly planted trees and an array of attractive pollinator plants. Mosaic Park’s entryway and interactive water feature are both illuminated with sustainable LED lighting. Come and enjoy the tiled seating wall, two circular play elements and dynamic urban plazas. This innovative public space provides for all kinds of casual drop-in activities.

Park goers must adhere to the appropriate CDC and County guidelines on park use during the COVID pandemic. Certain parts of the park may remain closed, pending guidance at the time of the park’s completion.

It’s Sustainable!

The park features an innovative approach to storm water management using the EPIC system. The Environmental Integrated Passive Chamber system (or EPIC System) stores rain water and recycles it back into the park’s plants and turf. Since the system is completely underground, it irrigates plantings directly at their roots.
Mosaic Park features an eco-friendly LED lighting system that conserves energy. The park’s remotely controlled lighting system contains bulbs that are free of toxic chemicals and are 100% recyclable. These long-lasting bulbs reduce light spillage meaning the park’s lighting is more likely to be contained at the Park.
The park features pollinator plants. Pollinators are plants that encourage butterflies, honey bees, hummingbirds, insects and animals that transfer pollen from flower to flower. This process is a vital stage in the lifecycle of all flowering plants. More than 150 food crops in the U.S. depend on pollinators. Since pollinators often eat from these plants, it also helps them to maintain their population and survival rate.
The park also features 144 newly-planted trees. This is the most trees we’ve planted in an urban park in a decade. Trees are key to keeping the air clean, filtering our water, reducing emissions from cars and businesses. The perfect plant for urban environments. And they provide shade so we can enjoy park amenities.
Even Mosaic Park’s interactive water feature is eco-friendly! The park’s interactive water feature is in a wide-open plaza and features chlorinated, UV-treated, recirculated water, thus helping to reduce water waste and keeping our community healthy.
Ecofriendly details enhance the park. The park’s signage and entryway are illuminated. And most of the plants in the park are native to Arlington. Native plants require less maintenance and are the best plants to support native plants and animals.

Community Input ensures something for everyone!

Mosaic Park has a variety of features to support many diverse activities. Phase one of the park boasts an interactive water feature, children’s play area, multi-purpose court, flexible- use lawn area, rain garden, a climbing wall, walkways and sidewalks, casual-use space, and seating wall. There’s something for everyone in the new Mosaic Park. The Park’s second phase will include a half-court basketball area, large flexible lawn and additional pathways.
Mosaic Park has Arlington’s largest public interactive water feature. What better way to cool off on a hot summer day than in Mosaic Park? Or just sit there and enjoy the view. The park’s interactive water feature runs the length of the park and provide clean, recirculated water so all ages can cool off and enjoy.
The park is intentionally designed for casual drop-in activities. Whereas some parks are designed to support a specific function, such as sports or nature, Mosaic Park is specifically designed to bring a diverse community together. Whether laying out to soak up some rays or challenging a neighbor to a friendly game of frisbee, this park is uniquely positioned to support impromptu, casual usage. And have you checked out the electronic games? Oh my!
The park is the perfect balance of hard scape and soft scape. An abundance of Mosaic Park surfaces allow water to run through it, unlike traditional hard scape. But that said, there are loads of places to play that won’t get muddy or pond and will allow the community to have fun at the same time providing an environment that is eco-friendly.
Mosaic Park has interactive, high-tech play options. The play elements allow children of all ages to children hone their coordination, strategic thinking, collaboration and balance skills. This is the first time this technology has been incorporated into one of Arlington’s public parks. It’s super fun, and a challenge, for all.

It’s Cost-Effective!

The EPIC system significantly reduces water usage, costing less to maintain the park’s plants and turf. The system also is a cost-effective, efficient and easy way to fertilize the park’s vegetation since the fertilizer recirculates time and time again. This eliminates the need for both costly maintenance and complex irrigation systems yet yields the same results.
Mosaic Park features an eco-friendly LED lighting system that saves money. LED lights have an extremely long operational life (up to50,000 hours!) and save money by reducing the human and financial resources needed to purchase, stock and change conventional light bulbs.
Mosaic Park’s synthetic turf reduces the costs of maintenance. Because many of the park’s play areas utilize a permeable synthetic turf, its lawn never needs to be watered or mowed. This reduces the human and financial resources needed to maintain it regularly.

Mosaic Park is reflective of Arlington’s mosaic community.

The park features various colors and a mosaic theme reflective of the fact that the park sits at the cross-section of three distinct and diverse neighborhoods: Ashton Heights, Buckingham, and Ballston-Virginia Square. The diversity of these communities is reflected in the multi-colored themes found throughout the park.
Both the name of the park and the features included in its design were chosen by the local community.
Mosaic Park will be entirely ADA-compliant and will feature accessible play equipment.
Most of the plants in Mosaic Park are native to the area. They include Carpinus caroliniana, Juniperus virginiana, Magnolia grandiflora, Sporobolous heterolepis and many more!

Updates:

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About the Process

Past Meeting:

Staff conducted a gallery walk/discussion on May 30 and provided an informational update on the project timeline, value engineering outcomes, final project design, stormwater management system and protected bike lanes. Images shared during the walk can be viewed in the image gallery.

Background:

Following a robust community process, the Mosaic Park Master Plan that was approved by the County Board in 2009.

Phase 1 design, which we are now implementing. The design includes a large flexible urban plaza, an interactive water feature, children’s play area, multi-purpose court, flexible use lawn area, rain garden, walkways and sidewalks, site furnishings, and landscaping, lighting for main pedestrian paths throughout, fencing, associated storm water management, drainage and grading for site improvements in compliance with the erosion and sediment control/storm water management ordinances as well as the Chesapeake Bay Ordinance.

A major feature of the park design will be to incorporate sustainable practices and features including use of solar power as well as innovative stormwater management techniques. Schedule and documents information for the Mosaic Park Master Plan process can be viewed here.

The project received bids in 2016. After initial construction bids came in high, Arlington County worked with designers and the consultant team through an extensive value engineering analysis to bring the Mosaic Park Project within budget while still maintaining the design's integrity.

Funding

This effort is funded through a transfer of development rights* from Mosaic Park to the Founder’s Square project. The County secured the first 1/3 of the project funding ($2,220,625) in association with the Founders Square north office building's excavation, sheeting and shoring permit. Another 1/3 will become available prior to issuance of the final building permit, and the final 1/3 will be available prior to issuance of the first certificate of occupancy for tenant occupancy, for a total of $6,661,875.

* Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs) is a program with state-wide legislation that allows county boards, under the county manager plan of government, to provide for the dedication of density and other development rights in each county's Zoning Ordinance. With County Board approval, site plan projects can transfer or purchase density from one parcel or site plan to another.