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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Water returned Thursday to a Del Ray park that has been dry since 2010, as the city opened the Colasanto Interactive Fountain on the site of a neighborhood pool that closed more than 15 years ago.
The Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities called it a soft opening. Staff will monitor how the fountain runs and make adjustments over the coming days, the department said, and residents are welcome to come try it in the meantime.
At 11:15 a.m. Thursday, city staff and technicians were on site testing the system and checking chlorine levels. The jets were running across the spray pad. Staff said no one had come to play in the water yet, but they expected that to change.
"This opening represents more than the completion of a project; it represents the community's long-awaited opportunity to experience a new and engaging recreational amenity," RPCA Director Hashim T. Taylor said in the announcement.
The city will not have long to watch it run this year. Its project page says the fountain will operate through mid-October, which gives it roughly five weeks before the season ends.
A project that dates to 2012
The Nicholas Colasanto Outdoor Pool opened at 2700 Mount Vernon Ave. in 1969 and closed in 2010. The city's 2012 Aquatic Facilities Study identified the site as a good candidate for a revitalized public space with an interactive water element and public art, and it has been in some stage of planning or construction for most of the 14 years since.
The push came from the neighborhood. By 2018 the Del Ray Community Partnership was raising money for a Gateway Park at Mount Vernon and Commonwealth that would pair a splash park with a memorial garden for Nancy Dunning, the real estate agent known as the Queen of Del Ray, who was credited with helping revive Mount Vernon Avenue and who was killed in her home in 2003. The partnership brought in Dunning's family, the Del Ray Citizens Association, the Del Ray Business Association, Del Ray Artisans and two design firms, and won a $48,000 city matching grant. Proceeds from the citizens association's biennial house and garden tour have gone to the project.
At that point the spray park was estimated at $900,000 and the memorial garden at $418,452, and the city's plans had the spray park opening by 2020.
Community engagement and concept development ran through 2021 and 2022, with design completed in 2022. A national call for artists that year led to the selection of Béatrice Coron, a New York artist whose work is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Construction procurement finished in 2024, the contract was awarded that October, and work began on site March 31, 2025. Demolition of the old pool started April 18.
At that point the city anticipated finishing in October 2025.
What pushed it back
Construction updates on the city's website track the slippage. Heavy rain over a month and a half slowed grading in the summer of 2025. Weather delayed work on the fountain's two underground vaults that November. Snow and cold affected the site in February 2026, as coordination continued with Dominion Energy and Virginia American Water.
In May, the city posted that the opening had been pushed past its anticipated date because of unforeseen circumstances and final completion requirements, without specifying what they were. In July, it said Coron's artwork had been installed and that utility coordination, testing and commissioning remained. The final utility connections were completed in late August.
Thursday's announcement credited the Virginia Department of Health, the city's Code Administration team, Dominion Energy, project contractors and RPCA's park planning staff with completing final inspections and utility work.
Rules and hours
Signs at the park set hours from sunrise to sunset. There is no lifeguard, and adult supervision is required at all times for children 12 and under.
Swimmers must wear appropriate swimwear and non-slip water shoes, and children who are not toilet trained must wear swim diapers. Pets are not allowed in the fountain area, nor are skateboards, roller blades, bikes, beach furniture, water toys, or food, drink and glass containers. The signs tell visitors not to drink the water or climb on the fountain equipment, and bar anyone with a communicable disease or symptoms of diarrhea or vomiting from the facility.
What's there
The spray park is part of the larger Del Ray Gateway project, which the city says will redevelop the triangle park at Mount Vernon and Commonwealth avenues in phases. It is funded through the city's Capital Improvement Program and a Community Matching Fund partnership with the Del Ray Gateway Project. The city has not published a final cost for the fountain, and has not said when the Dunning memorial garden will be built.
Coron's work consists of three vertical steles — metal structures shaped like buildings, set on concrete pedestals — with cut-out vignettes drawn from the city's history and contemporary life. The design draws on art deco styling meant to reflect Del Ray's architecture. A separate cut-out panel mounted along the fence renders a streetscape and a locomotive in silhouette, a nod to the railroad town Del Ray began as.
The fountain itself is a flush-mounted spray pad, with jets set into a fanned concrete pattern in cream and gray. Benches line the fenced edge.
RPCA said it is working with community stakeholders on a date for an official ribbon-cutting and will announce details once they are set.
More information is available at alexandriava.gov/rpca/project/del-ray-gateway.
Ryan Belmore is an Alexandria resident and the founder and publisher of The Alexandria Brief. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ryan@alexandriabrief.com.
