Nova News
THROWBACK THURSDAY—NOVA PARKS--IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS AN OFFICE IN A HOUSE
We all have to start somewhere.
That statement was very true for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA), the organization now known as NOVA Parks. Former Executive Director William Lightsey, along with Capital Programs Director Darrell Winslow (pictured below, left) recognized the need for a centralized office somewhere in the Northern Virginia region where the Park Authority could set up a base of operations. The office would serve as the organization’s headquarters - a location where meetings could take place, the paperwork could be processed, phone calls could be serviced, and files could be drafted and stored.
Believe it or not, the Park Authority was given an opportunity in what amounted to be a small house. Dr. Barry Cook was a physician and Park Authority Board Member. He had his medical practice in a small house on Main Street in Fairfax City, and he had some extra room. The only rule in leasing the space from the good doctor was that certain storage shelves would need to be used for storing jars that contained preserved body parts that were part of his medical lab business.
By the early 1970s, the office for the Park Authority was operating at full volume, using all the interior space they could for work desks and meeting areas. It did not take long for NVRPA to realize that a new and larger building was going to be needed for their operations.
In 1973 a new office was built for the Park Authority and it had the look and feel of what a park headquarters should be. It was designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright and had lots of wood beams and views of nature. That building at the intersections of Rt. 123 and Popes Head Road has been expanded over the decades, but still serves at the central office of NOVA Parks and still inspires visitors with its natural setting and mid-century modern feel.
