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On Wednesday, July 21, 2021 the Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Warrior Challenge Course located at Locust Shade Park in Triangle, Va. The park was officially opened to the public on August 17 due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused turf installation delays. '
Located near Marine Corps Base (MCB) Quantico, the park is an ideal location for a partnership project providing major improvements to local recreational areas. The course offers a unique experience for the local community and positively impacts the quality of life for those living both on and off base.
“We’re really excited about bringing more amenities for the Marines who already use the park,” said Brendon Hanafin, Assistant Director of Prince William County Parks, Recreation and Tourism. “I would say they’re some of our more frequent users, especially in the morning when they’re all running. We think this will be great, not just for the Marines, but for their families.”
The $500,000 project included a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course with eight obstacles, children’s playground, outdoor gym, timed sprinting track and enhancements to remove accessibility barriers for those in wheelchairs.
“The great thing about this park is the accessibility portion of it,” said Colonel (Col) Michael Brooks, Commanding Officer of MCB Quantico. “Even our disabled veterans or active-duty service members who are currently assigned to a Wounded Warrior regiment, even they can participate and get something particular out of this park.”
This community project was partially funded by the Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP) grant from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) with support from leaders from the Prince William County Parks, Recreation and Tourism office, MCB Quantico and the community. The DCIP, a pilot program approved by the Secretary of Defense and launched on May 6, 2020, provides grants for community infrastructure projects supportive of military installations and focuses on enhancing military family quality of life.
“Last summer, we became aware of a grant available from the DoD to add amenities close to military bases,” said Hanafin. "Our director brought up the idea of a Ninja Warrior course-type configuration for something here, and we pitched that to the DoD and to the Marine Corps. They both loved the idea, and we received the grant and we started on the project.”
Prince William County received $250,000 from the DoD program and matched the grant with $250,000 of proffer funds marked for the Potomac District. “Because this [park] offers an opportunity where the service member can bring their family members and can share the amount of time that they spend here together, the overall health of the family is going to increase,” said Col Brooks.
“When we have a healthy family, of course we have a healthy service member. Because of that, it helps out with our retention because they want to stay.”
Locust Shade Park is also receiving major enhancements to its mountain biking trails. Prince William County has worked with volunteers from MCB Quantico’s mountain biking club to clear land for several miles of new mountain biking trails. The park will host a grand opening for the new trails when they are completed.
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2021 11:44 |
| Story ID: | 403522 |
| Location: | TRIANGLE, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,145 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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