A rendering of the new Arlington Mill Community Center expected to be finished in 2013. (Courtesy Arlington County.)

The new Arlington Mill Community Center was given the go-ahead amid a County Board love-fest on Saturday, with members of the board and the public praising the much heralded project. The board voted unanimously to build a new community center at the site of the currently shuttered center on Columbia Pike.

The vote at the Sept. 25 board meeting also approved a phased approach, in which the county will use $30 to $35 million of public money to build the center in the first phase, and a private developer will add housing, including at least 61 affordable units, to the site in phase two.

The community center project has been on hold for the past year after Arlington and its development partner for the housing, Public Private Alliance, were not able to finance the project in 2009.

The five-story community center will include a full-sized gym, space for seniors and other county programming, retail space on the ground floor, underground parking, and a public plaza. The county is hoping to request proposals for construction of the center by the end of this year and begin building this spring.

“I think everyone here is saying this may be even a little better than the last option we considered,” board chairman Jay Fisette said at the meeting. “And the second phase is under active discussion right now.” In a later statement, Fisette said he is “confident we will find a private partner who will take advantage of the opportunity to build housing on this site.”

“I think we’re probably in the best place we can be at the moment,” board member Barbara Favola said.

Members of the public spoke up in favor of the project as well. “I want to thank all members of the county board, the commissions, the review committees, all the working groups, the county staff, for putting in so much effort, including many late night hours, to make this new center a reality,” said Eileen Kenna from the Columbia Heights West Civic Association.

Other news coming out of Saturday’s meeting includes:

— The board designated six more “heritage trees,” giving recognition to notable trees in the county of “hefty girth and impressive height”.
— More than 17,000 square feet of space underground in Crystal City will remain open for a potential grocery store, as expected, after a property owner withdrew a proposal to change part of that to office and storage space. The county has long been pushing for a replacement for the space’s former tenant, Safeway, at the site, and Fisette called the move “a good withdrawal” on the part of the developer at Saturday’s meeting.
— Ballston newcomer Pizza Autentica (whose space on Wilson Boulevard outfitted with new signs when we passed by today) received permission for outdoor seating to accommodate approximately 16 people