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Saving Blake Lane Park
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Blake Lane Park has an active Invasive Management Area site, protecting native habitats The future of Blake Lane Park assured! April 13, 2021: Blake Lane Park was transferred to the Fairfax County Park Authority with a Board of Supervisors vote on April 13, 2021! Congratulations to Save Blake Lane Park! Oakton Patch Article January 5, 2021: The Fairfax County School Board approved a proposal to repurpose Dunn Loring Administration Center as a new elementary school, paid for with existing bond funds. Blake Lane Park is off the chopping block, thanks to the good efforts of Save Blake Lane Park! Now we need action by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to transfer Blake Lane Park to the Park Authority to preserve it for future generations to enjoy. Please contact your Fairfax County supervisor to express support! June 25, 2019: The Board of Supervisors discusses Blake Lane Park at length:
May 20, 2019: Two recent media items covering Blake Lane Park: Oakton High School's Oakton Outlook article Inside Scoop TV interview on this and other Fairfax County parks in jeopardy. April 9, 2019: Congressman Gerry Connolly has strongly weighed in on the side of preserving Blake Lane Park. This may perhaps be taken as a decisive factor in favor of retaining the park. Will Towers Park, the alternate site, now also need citizen protection from conversion? Congressman Connolly's Letter Blue Virginia article on this and other Fairfax County parks in jeopardy. January 16, 2019: The public meeting conducted by Fairfax County Public Schools on the proposed school at Blake Lane Park was heated, to say the least, with an estimated 150 members of the public attending, nearly all expressing strong opposition. Memo describing meeting | Letter from Save Blake Lane Park | Article in Blue Virginia | Analysis from Friends of Nottoway | Urban Moms & Dads Forum | Sierra Club Newsletter Fairfax Times article Blake Lane Park, 10 acres in size, is in Oakton at the northern extent of the Accotink Creek watershed. The park is about half wooded and half open playing fields. The property was aquired decades ago for a school that was never built. The Park Authority was put in charge of managing the property, but ownership was never transfered. The official name of the park "Blake Lane School Site" perhaps foretold its future. In late 2018, the announcement came that the school envisioned long ago was now needed and the park was to be no more. Neighbors who make use of the park are understandably reluctant to give it up and any loss of natural habitat is something to be avoided.
How unfortunate it is that two worthy needs, parks and schools, should be in opposition this way. The neighbors have formed Save Blake Lane Park and are seeking signatures on their petition to preserve the park.
Inside NOVA article
Blake Lane Park is near Oakton High School 
Alternate site would sacrifice a portion of Towers Park, near Fairfax Circle
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