Waterfront Commission Walking Tour of the Old Town North Waterfront

On Saturday, June 21st Members of the Waterfront Commission and a variety of other City representatives joined members of the community for a Walking Tour of the Old Town North Waterfront led by Agnès Artemel of Artemel & Associates (Waterfront Commissioner; co-founder and former President of the Old Town North Alliance) and Jack Browand, Deputy Director of the Department of Recreation, Parks, & Cultural Affairs. The Tour was supported by the North Old Town Independent Citizens Association (NOTICe), Old Town North Community Partnership (OTNCP), and the Old Town North Alliance (OTNA). The Tour drew a great crowd despite the early start and hot temperatures.

Oronoco Bay Park

*Deputy Director of Recreation, Parks, & Cultural Activities Jack Browand speaks to the crowd about RiverRenew Plaza (image courtesy of the Old Town North Alliance)*

The first stop on the Tour was in Oronoco Bay Park where Browand discussed various topics including the RiverRenew Plaza currently under construction. Browand said that the plaza is anticipated to open in the fall. Browand also confirmed that demolition of the Robinson Terminal pier, which has been deemed unsalvageable, will commence any day now. Browand shared that the City does 2-3 moderate clean-ups per year of debris in the river and is trying to determine what to do about the boardwalk and deck on the water just off of the north end of Oronoco Bay Park. The boardwalk and deck are not in great condition at present, and have also become home to a variety of wildlife.

Rivergate Park

Next on the itinerary was Rivergate Park. Rivergate Park is a privately owned park, which is made accessible to the public via the Development Special Use Permit (DSUP) for the property. Rivergate Park is a model example of a public/private partnership where the waterfront land is made available to the community by private owners, but the responsibility for maintenance is shared by the Rivergate Homeowners Association (RHA) and the City. RHA Secretary Laurie Pearsall spoke to the crowd about how this arrangement came to be. Rivergate was developed by Eakin Youngentob Associates, now known as EYA, on the grounds of the former Norton Rendering Plant, which was served by the rail line along with the power plant, the Robinson Terminal warehouses, and other industrial uses. In the early 1990s, the site was approved for a 58-unit townhouse development, with the land divided into two parts, one for the residences, and the other for the creation of a waterfront park. Both parcels belong to the RHA, but there is a public easement in perpetuity for the park portion of the land so that all can enjoy the waterfront walk and park without being adjacent homeowners. What’s interesting about the park management plan is that while the RHA holds title, the RHA pays the City of Alexandria an annual fee for maintenance. The City cleans up debris brought in by the Tidal Potomac, maintains the pedestrian walkway, and cuts the grass. RHA maintains a beautifully landscaped island in the middle of the park. The grassy berm that abuts the houses is mostly within the publicly-accessible lands, and is there because the park area is within the floodplain of the Potomac River.

Canal Center

From Rivergate Park, the tour continued to Canal Center. Management of the Canal Center property turned over at the end of 2024 and the property is now jointly managed by Blue Management Services (buildings 44 and 66, overall grounds maintenance) and Transwestern Services (buildings 11 and 99). Sarah Almy, Executive Director of OTNA, shared that a representative of Blue Management Services has indicated that repairs to the bridge over the replica of the Canal Lock behind Canal Center will be completed this summer. The beautiful plaza at Canal Center presents an incredible opportunity for activations of the Arts & Cultural District including performances and art festivals.

TideLock

Ryan Whitaker, one of the co-developers of the TideLock project and also the President of the Old Town North Alliance, next addressed the crowd regarding the TideLock project. TideLock faces onto N. Fairfax St., but the back side of the project is along the waterfront. The project will feature a public pedestrian promenade providing public access to TideLock Park, public art installations, and an historic interpretative display. TideLock is a residential to office conversion project that is expected to be completed by early 2026. TideLock will have 169 rental units, 65 condos, 2,000 square feet of retail space (most likely a café or wine bar), and a 5,000 square foot Arts & Culture Anchor space. Whitaker said that they are working with several prospective Arts & Culture Anchors to replace Levine Music, which exited the project last year.

HRP ALX (Former Power Plant Site)

*HRP Vice President & OTNA Board Member Michelle Chang & Agnès Artemel talk with tour attendees about the HRP ALX project (former power plant site)(image courtesy of the Old Town North Alliance)*

After a welcome stop for water and refreshments provided by NOTICe President Mary Harris, the final development project on the itinerary was the HRP ALX project (former power plant site). HRP Vice President and OTNA Board Member Michelle Chang shared the latest updates on the project. This will be a mixed-use project that will primarily contain a mix of ground floor retail with housing above. The ratio for the first phase of building will be ⅓ condo and ⅔ rental. HRP Group is finishing up Phase I of the lead-up to meetings this fall with the City. Chang said that deconstruction of the power plant will commence no earlier than June 2026 and other construction will begin six months after that date. The southern phasing will happen sooner than the rest of the project. The project will include lots of publicly accessible open space along the waterfront and the potential exists for lots of great activation on the Great Lawn, including art fairs, farmers markets, music, and other programming.

Old Town North Alliance Art and Culture Walk

At this point, the tour shifted away from the waterfront and turned onto N. Fairfax St. to head back towards Oronoco Bay Park. OTNA Executive Director Sarah Almy addressed the tour regarding the OTNA Art and Culture Walk. Pursuant to the directive in the Small Area Plan that N. Fairfax St. should serve as the main corridor of the Arts & Cultural District, the Alliance partnered with Winstanley Architects to develop a master plan for an Art and Culture Walk with N. Fairfax St. as the main route for the walk in Old Town North. The walk route extends from the Torpedo Factory Art Center north along the waterfront, turning towards N. Fairfax St. via Wythe St. Park, and continuing all the way north along N. Fairfax. St. to the HRP ALX site (former power plant site). This spring, the Alliance published the 2nd Annual OTNA Art and Culture Walk Brochure, which can be viewed on the OTN Arts website.

New development projects are required to provide public art on site or make in lieu contributions to the Public Art Fund, but the Alliance also encourages private property owners and organizations to consider on site art installations that would enhance the offerings of the OTNA Art and Culture Walk and the Old Town North Arts & Cultural District. Recently, The Oronoco installed the Arizona Needle sculpture at their entrance and Royal Restaurant commissioned an artist to paint a mural on the building’s exterior because both organizations wanted to contribute to the Old Town North Arts & Cultural District.

Montgomery Park

The next stop was Montgomery Park, where Browand shared that renovations of the tennis courts are almost complete (and he was correct - the work is now complete!). Browand also discussed the great working relationship the City has with OTNCP for activation of Montgomery Park and the Montgomery Park Farmers Market, which was spearheaded by OTNCP President Margaret Townsend. Artemel pointed out that the gazebo in Montgomery Park was the result of a grassroots planning effort by OTNCP, which ultimately obtained approval and funding from the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities.

Margaret Townsend, President of OTNCP, shared that OTNCP is working with Daniel Guzman of the Office of the Arts to organize a pop-up Jazz Fest on Sunday, October 5th in Montgomery Park.

MetroStage

Carolyn Griffin, OTNA Board Member and Producing Artistic Director of MetroStage, opened the doors of the MetroStage space at Venue to provide a sneak peek of the new space. MetroStage recently selected Winstanley Architects for the design of the space, which will include café tables and mezzanine seating as well as traditional tiered theater seats. Guests will enter on the north side of the building on the street level and the theater will be on the lower level. The theater will be fully equipped for both theater and film and in addition to being the home of MetroStage, the theater will be home to the Alexandria Film Festival starting in November 2026. Griffin said that the goal is to open the theater by October 2026.

Thank you to everyone who contributed their time to present on the tour, and to all who joined us on the walk to learn about the Old Town North Waterfront, especially the Members of the Waterfront Commission, and to NOTICe and OTNCP for their support.

Linda VitelloJune 26, 2025