DPR capital plan prioritizes equity‑weighted park repairs and requests PAYGO for Cherry Hill design, Douglas Park phase 2 and synthetic turf replacement

Eric Beach, DPR’s Park Development Division chief, presented the department’s FY26 capital funding request on Feb. 27 and detailed how DPR prioritizes park infrastructure projects using an equity‑weighted asset condition assessment.

The department requested $3,329,000 in capital funds for FY26, split across PAYGO, short‑term financing and existing bond balances. Beach outlined three categories of spending: annual line items (for example, capital asset manager and parks field fund), new requests to address specific playground and park upgrades, and planned synthetic turf replacement at Long Bridge Park.

Why it matters: Arlington manages thousands of park assets — playgrounds, restrooms, fields, benches — and DPR’s prioritization method affects which neighborhoods receive renovation dollars and when. This year DPR revised its process by combining standard condition scores (1–100 scale) with an equity factor derived from census indicators (ethnic diversity, household density, child population and income) so parks with poor condition and higher equity need score higher on the priority list.

Key capital requests and rationale

- Total FY26 request: $3,329,000 (PAYGO $1,680,000; short‑term financing $1,000,000; use of existing bond balances $600,000).

- Annual requests: $182,000 for a capital asset manager position to support asset tracking and CIP formulation; $273,000 projected for the parks field fund (fees collected from sports teams).

- New PAYGO and short‑term projects: design funding of $500,000 for Cherry Hill Playground to address ADA and aging retaining walls; $733,000 for Douglas Park Phase 2 (east side renovation following earlier west‑side work); $600,000 in existing bond balances to replace safety surfacing at six playgrounds (Butler Homes, Drew, Fort Barnard, Hayes, High View and Rocky Run); and $1,000,000 in short‑term financing to replace Synthetic Field #3 at Long Bridge Park under DPR’s 8‑year replacement cycle.

- Life‑cycle and risk management: DPR said lifecycle extensions and careful timing can reduce costs but warned that extending equipment beyond safe useful life can increase maintenance burden and cyber/operational risk for technology assets.

Board questions and next steps

Board members asked which projects could be deferred in a tight fiscal year and how the equity weighting would affect neighborhood outcomes. DPR said some design or feasibility work can be postponed and that the equity+condition formula provides a data‑driven guide for prioritization. Staff noted the FY26 PAYGO ask is 41% lower than the prior adopted FY25 request once partnership funds are removed and that the department refined requests to match realistic deliverables.

Ending note

DPR will return during the FY26 adoption process with more detailed cost estimates and project timing; board members signaled interest in a follow‑up briefing that clarifies which capital items are most deferrable if budgets tighten.