As COVID-19 continues to cause major economic disturbances across the country, Visit Fairfax has a new program to support local businesses and people impacted by the pandemic.
Fairfax County is heavily reliant on tourism and visitors for conferences. While Visit Fairfax’s president Barry Biggar told Tysons Reporter that he uncertain how much the Tysons area economy will hurt, he said the organization is working to combat some of the economic downturn.
Biggar said restrictions on non-essential businesses coupled with the economic downturn have had “devastating” consequences for local businesses, services and eateries in the last three weeks.
While many restaurants are trying to pivot by offering delivery, curbside pickup and delivery, some have temporarily closed. Biggar said that he expects many won’t reopen.
Visit Fairfax staffers are trying to help coordinate tools for the community through the “Fairfax First” program, he said.
The program is a collection of tools, lists and opportunities that residents can take advantage of to support themselves and others during this turbulent time, according to the website. It includes fun things to do while at home, virtual tours of popular attractions, mental health resources and ways to support local businesses.
Visit Fairfax is also promoting “Virginia Is for Restaurant Lovers Takeout Week,” which runs from March 30-April 5.
“Virginians are encouraged to order takeout, delivery or curbside pickup from local restaurants and to use the hashtag #VirginiaEatsLocal to spread the word,” according to Visit Fairfax’s website.
Last year around this time, hotels in the area were at or above 70% capacity, according to Biggar, who added that now they are at or below 18%.
Around Virginia, he said more than 24,000 people in the service industry have lost their jobs permanently due to staffing cuts.
Along with other resources, Visit Fairfax coordinated with local hotels to help first responders find a list of steeply discounted rooms that will put them up if they are either self-isolating away from their families or need another place to rest, according to Biggar.
Around Tysons, these include The Ritz-Carlton at Tysons Corner, Hilton McLean and The Westin Tysons Corner, according to Visit Fairfax. Rates vary, but first responders can call the hotels directly to inquire.
As the pandemic continues in Fairfax County without any sign of slowing, Biggar said that he can’t make a judgment yet about how this will affect the economic well being of the area going forward, but does predict an eventual rise in domestic travel around the third and fourth quarters later this year.
Though things are “changing every day,” Biggar said he wants people to “start thinking and dreaming about what you want to do when this is over” in terms of vacations and getaways to boost the economy again.
Photo courtesy James B. Crusan III
A recent stream restoration project in Tysons is supposed to help fix erosion but a few residents and environmental advocates in the area worry that it will be detrimental to local wildlife and foliage.
The Old Courthouse Spring Branch at Gosnell Road Stream Stream Restoration Project runs loosely along Route 7 and is currently under construction to restore roughly half a mile of the natural stream channel, replace old sewage lines and decommission an old stormwater pond, according to Fairfax County’s website.
In the months leading up to this project, several nearby residents and visitors to “Tysons Last Forest” have protested the project — not because they want to stop it, but because they want the wildlife and nature to be protected.
The area, which consists of more than 40 acres of open space, is home to birds, deer, owls, small mammals, foxes, hundred-year-old trees and even a bobcat or two, according to Fairfax County.
Local resident Jack Russell, who is a long-time visitor to the park, said he isn’t aware of either an ecological or environmental impact report for the project, which he said concerns him.
Tysons Reporter reached out to Shannon Bell and Charles Smith from the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services Department for comment but haven’t received a response yet.
Russell said he is already noticing the negative effects of the work done by crews, recounting how Fairfax County workers destroyed a fox’s den. “I watched the fox just walk around in shock,” he said.
Though the work on phase one began in November 2019, Russell and his wife retroactively organized a Facebook page and town hall in January to educate people on the project. The meeting attracted roughly 50 people from around the area, Russell said, noting that Fairfax County representatives attended the meeting, including a liaison from the office of the Hunter Mill District Supervisor.
During the January town hall, Russell was able to share his grievances with Bell and Smith.
“The people who are managing phase one and phase two of the Tysons Forest project couldn’t be nicer people and they’ve listened but they rolled in with bulldozers and backhoes and just clearcut 1,500 feet of old trees,” Russell said.
Fairfax County documentation already notes that ecosystems in the area are fragile. “The natural areas of the district are extremely fragmented, with significant portions of edge habitat and few large tracts remaining,” the report, which was published in 2011, said.
Ultimately, Russell said he and other local advocates have a few key demands.
Though they understand that stream restoration is important for the health of the area, he said they want to:
- minimize the loss of trees and habitat in the area
- delay work on the second phase until damage from the first phase is re-planted and healed
- create “animal-friendly zones” including native plant species and hollow logs for dens
- be a “shining” example nationally for how animal habitats can be enhanced
According to Fairfax County, the project will be completed in 2021.
Russell said he hopes the issue will receive more attention and that Fairfax County will reevaluate the environmental impact of its ongoing projects.
Photo courtesy Jack Russell
What does Tysons look like when people stay home? Tysons Reporter has been asking readers to share their photos of the Tysons area during the coronavirus pandemic.
From reader-submitted photos, it appears from the empty highways that people are staying inside and staying 6 feet away from each other — a.k.a. social distancing — when they do go outside.
The photos in this article were submitted by readers this month, capturing Tysons’ barren urban environment paired with cloudy days, sunrises and blooming flowers.
Now that Gov. Ralph Northam has issued a stay-at-home order, places around Tysons are likely to become even more deserted.
Several people snapped photos inside Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria, capturing their ghost town vibes:
Currently, the interior of Tysons Galleria is closed, while stores and restaurants with exterior-facing entrances can remain open. Meanwhile, Tysons Corner Center is open.
Meanwhile, Ed Schudel snapped a photo of what appears to be a shower curtain serving as a barrier between the cashier and customers at the 7-Eleven on Old Chain Bridge.
Northam’s most recent order means that businesses can stay open if they can keep less than 10 customers in their spaces.
Northam’s orders also affect restaurants by not allowing them to have sit-down dining during the pandemic. To stay open, several eateries around the Tysons area have pivoted to offering pick-up and delivery options for diners.
Earlier this month, our staff photographer Jay Westcott captured what the major highways in Tysons looked like with fewer cars.
Here are more photos from Westcott:
Thank you to the photographers who have already sent us photos!
The best way to send photos is to email us at [email protected] or tag/direct message us on our social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook).
Editor’s note: Tysons Reporter will temporarily have “Morning Notes” every weekday instead of twice a week to accommodate more news.
Tysons-Based Gannett Furloughs Employees, Cuts Pay — “Gannett CEO Paul Bascobert said that the company will ask staff to make a ‘collective sacrifice’ to keep the mass-media holding company intact amid the crisis by cutting pay ‘as soon as this week.’… Many staffers will be furloughed for five days a month through June.” [The Daily Beast]
Communications Firm in Tysons Files for Bankruptcy — “According OneWeb, the company had a difficult time securing funding in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The firm expanded its presence in Tysons back in 2018. [Axios, Washington Business Journal]
Fairfax County Inmate Tests Positive for COVID-19 — “On March 30, 2020, an inmate in his 20’s at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC) tested positive for COVID-19. He has been incarcerated since January 29, 2020 and is now in isolation at the ADC.” [Fairfax County]
Though #FCFRD fire stations are closed to the public, it did not stop some neighbors of Station 1, McLean, from letting the firefighters and paramedics know how they feel. A wonderful note taped outside that made our day! We ❤️our residents! We are all in this together. pic.twitter.com/6kIKVbxJj1
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) March 31, 2020
Work has recently started to realign Old Meadow Road at Dolley Madison Blvd (Route 123) in Tysons.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Silver Line project is doing the work to realign the road with the main entrance to the Capital One complex, according to the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
The work started on Sunday (March 29) and will continue until Friday (April 3).
More from the Dulles Corridor Metrorail project:
Nighttime closures are planned this weekend to permit the installation of Jersey barriers. The right turn lane of northbound Route 123 will be closed at Old Meadow Road as well as the right eastbound lane of Old Meadow Road to facilitate construction. At least one lane of Old Meadow Road will remain open at all times in each direction.
The first phase of the project will take approximately eight weeks to complete and includes demolition of existing sidewalk and curb and gutter. Follow-on work includes installation of new storm drainage; installation of a new traffic lane, new sidewalk and new curb and gutter; and installation of new signaling equipment. Please drive carefully and safely in the area and remain aware of pedestrians and construction workers.
People can expect the left turn lane to Old Meadow Road from southbound Route 123 and the right turn lane to Old Meadow Road from northbound Route 123 to be closed from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday.
Meanwhile, the right lane of eastbound Old Meadow Road will be closed from Route 123 to Colshire Meadow Road during the same days and times.
Image via Google Maps
Editor’s note: Tysons Reporter will temporarily have “Morning Notes” every weekday instead of twice a week to accommodate more news.
Fava Pot Owner Shares COVID-19 Impacts — “Her 2-year-old restaurant had been doing well — until the first week of March, when she first noticed a 30% drop in business. Then, she said, it kept dropping “like crazy” every day thereafter. By the second weekend in March, she saw sales plummet 80%.” [Washington Business Journal]
Profile of a Falls Church Barbershop — “On the surface, Smitty’s looks and feels like any black barbershop… But Smitty’s is much, much more to the immediate community. It’s an institution. And even in this time of terrible uncertainty for our older generations around the world, Smitty’s — now owned by Smith, 79, and his wife, Marcia — has been a comforting constant for the black and elderly of Falls Church and, more broadly, Fairfax County.” [Washington Business Journal]
Plans OK’d for Tysons Transmission Line — “The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on March 24 unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the proposed undergrounding of a Dominion Energy electricity-transmission line in Tysons… The proposed Tysons project would underground a transmission line between the existing Tysons substation and future Spring Hill substation.” [Inside NoVa]
Repaving Map Now Online — The Virginia Department of Transportation has started its 2020 paving season to resurface roads. People can look at an interactive online map to see which roads are scheduled to be resurfaced this year. [VDOT]
An employee at an affordable senior living facility in Tysons has tested positive for COVID-19, according to memos from the building’s management.
Managed by Polinger, Tysons Towers Apartments (8500 Tyspring Street) offers a federally-assisted rental program for people ages 62 and older and people with disabilities.
Tysons Reporter obtained copies of two memos signed with the name of a Polinger employee.
A memo dated Thursday (March 26) says that a Tysons Towers employee went to the hospital with coronavirus symptoms, later receiving a positive test result for the virus on Thursday.
An earlier memo says that the building management can’t provide more information on the case, citing HIPAA laws.
The employee was last in the senior living facility’s community on Friday, March 20, according to the memos.
“At this time, we have closed the Management Office and have sent all employees home until further notice,” the most recent memo says, adding that half of the staff was sent home on Monday (March 23).
The memo says that the building received a deep cleaning earlier this week, cleaning of common areas has since increased in the building and visitors are being screened with a questionnaire.
The memo includes information on preventing the spread of the virus — like reminding people to wash their hands and social distance.
The Polinger employee who signed the memo did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Fairfax County Health Department declined to comment on the Tysons Towers case.
“We currently have 124 cases of COVID-19 in Fairfax County, including 44 cases new cases that were reported today,” John Silcox, the spokesperson, said. “As our numbers increase, we won’t have information on every new case in the community.”
As for cases in assisted living facilities or skilled nursing facilities in general, Silcox said that the health department works with the building’s management on infection control policies.
“These include isolating all residents who have symptoms of illness; restricting congregating and eliminating gatherings; screening of staff for symptoms at the beginning of each shift; discouraging cross-facility employment; guiding appropriate use of personal protection equipment (PPE); providing guidance on enhanced cleaning practices; and implementing visitor restrictions,” he said.
Image via Google Maps
A rebranding effort currently underway aims to get people to identify all four square miles of Tysons as one place and not just the area by the two malls.
“It’s not about putting a new logo out there,” Drew Sunderland, the director of marketing and placemaking at Tysons Partnership, told Tysons Reporter. “The goal is to create a sense of engagement here that connects people to place.”
Sunderland said that Tysons Partnership has been working with Gensler since 2019 on a multi-phase branding effort.
“We did a very comprehensive intake of opinions and feelings from our members and also members of the community to get a feeling for the pulse here in Tysons,” he said.
In February, Tysons Partnership’s board approved the “strategic foundation” for the brand strategy, he said.
Tysons Partnership aims to reflect Tysons’ diversity in the new brand that can evolve as Tysons does, he said.
“You’re not talking about one monolithic, homogeneous, urban area — there’s a lot of different characteristics in Tysons,” he said.
As for Tysons’ eight neighborhoods, Sunderland said that the brand will let the neighborhoods and micro-communities — like The Boro — to “establish their own identities but within the greater umbrella of this Tysons brand platform.”
While the rebranding is underway, Tysons Partnership is also looking to establish a new business and funding model for the nonprofit association, which currently relies on members’ dues.
Sol Glasner, the president of Tysons Partnership, has called the members’ dues model “not sustainable.”
To help with the nonprofit’s constrained finances, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a $1 million grant for placemaking events, branding efforts, sponsorship and media outreach. Sunderland said that the grant has been matched by private members.
Sunderland said that relying on members’ dues meant that the group had limited resources when it made its “starter brand” about five years ago, which created decals on the water tank and street banners.
While sometimes lampooned, the use of the water tank for branding stemmed from its historical significance as a Civil War signal tower and convenience due to its height, Sunderland said, adding that people can expect it to be a part of the new branding effort.
“The water tower signage was sort of like a bat signal,” he said. “Tysons is more than just a mall.”
Another previous challenge was promoting pop-ups as part of the “Tysons experience,” Sunderland said.
“We struggled to get the word out that things were happening in Tysons and connecting new pop-ups to a bigger picture,” he said. “These things are not happening in a vacuum.”
People may start to see the new brand later this year, he said.
“We do want [people] to start thinking that the area that surrounds these four Metros is one place,” he said.
(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) Inova has opened three coronavirus testing sites today (Wednesday) in Northern Virginia — including one in Tysons.
Fairfax County shared that Inova’s new Respiratory Illness Clinics will evaluate patients with respiratory illness symptoms and offer tests for COVID-19 for people who have test orders from physicians.
“The Fairfax County Health Department is not involved in setting them up or running them, though we are now publicizing them,” a county spokesperson told Tysons Reporter.
More from the announcement:
Upon arrival at the Inova Respiratory Illness Clinic, a clinician will greet the patient at their vehicle to escort the patient into the respiratory clinic for evaluation or to collect samples for a physician-ordered test.
For patients who undergo COVID-19 testing, a UCC nurse will contact those whose results are negative. For patients with positive results, a UCC nurse will coordinate with the patient’s regular physician for notification and further instructions. Patients who are tested can expect results in roughly 4-7 days.
Before visiting any Inova Respiratory Illness Clinic, contact your regular physician for evaluation. For assistance with recommendations, to arrange for a physician appointment, or if you do not have a primary care physician, call 1-855-IMG-DOCS.
Your regular physician can evaluate your symptoms to determine if testing is indicated based on COVID-19 testing criteria and provide a testing order, or refer you to the Inova Respiratory Illness Clinic for evaluation.
The three testing sites are at local Inova Urgent Care Centers in Tysons, North Arlington and Chantilly. The Tysons location is 8357 Leesburg Pike.
The clinics will be open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily.
The Inova Urgent Care Centers at North Arlington and Tysons will only operate as respiratory illness clinics, while the Chantilly one will remain open to other patients, according to the county.
As of today, Fairfax County now has 77 presumptive positive coronavirus cases — up from 46 yesterday (Tuesday).
The state’s expanding testing capacity, which now includes commercial labs, might be behind the increase of confirmed cases.
Due to ridership plummeting and a need to conserve cleaning supplies during the coronavirus pandemic, Metro plans to temporarily close two Tysons stations.
Metro announced last night (Tuesday) that the Greensboro and McLean stations are a part of the 17 stations that will close tomorrow (Thursday).
“While Metro increased its on-hand warehouse inventory of essential supplies,… other items used by Metro’s frontline employees, suppliers are experiencing delivery delays,” the announcement said. “Metro is taking action to make its current 2-3 week warehouse supply stretch until massive orders placed in late January are received.”
Metro has been urging people recently to only use the public transit system for essential trips. Last week, Metro closed the Smithsonian and Arlington Cemetery stations to discourage people from visiting the cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin.
“The 19 stations will remain closed until further notice and trains will pass through without stopping,” Metro said.
Map via WMATA/Twitter
