When Mason Brooking started lifeguarding at Dix Memorial Pool as a teenager in 2022, the guards had to test the chlorine every hour. Sometimes the whole pool closed because the chemicals were off. He told Charlottesville Tomorrow: "The water would get so cloudy, you couldn't see people when they went under."
That pool is gone. A regulation-size, zero-entry pool with a bathhouse and concession stand opened in its place on August 1, 2025. Most of the rest of the park has been behind a construction fence this fall. The Town of Gordonsville's September 29 notice says Community Park is "NOT OPEN to the public" and is still an active construction site.
Behind that fence is the next stage of a park that a town of about 1,400 people has paid for largely through community donations that drew in matching grants. Each local gift brought in more money, and the latest town updates about the delay focus on the work on the ground.
What Phase 2 adds to the park
Charlottesville Tomorrow reported in December 2025 that the second phase includes a new event pavilion, a playground, and walking paths connecting Verling Park to the Fireman's Fairgrounds, the town's other green space. Together they take the park from less than a block to almost 10 acres. In August 2025, the Rapidan Register described the second phase this way:
- A new event pavilion replacing the existing one
- A replacement playground
- New walking paths
The same report said a multipurpose court and smaller picnic shelters could come in a later phase, and that Grelen Nursery had donated trees for the renovation.
At a special meeting on December 1, 2025, Town Council unanimously accepted Faulconer Construction Company, Inc. as the low bidder, at $2,894,000, for the stage its minutes call "Phase 1 – Part 2," and authorized the Town Manager to sign the contract. Charlottesville Tomorrow put the whole two-phase project at about $6.5 million, with $3.9 million of that for the pool. The town's entire annual budget is $7.7 million.
Paying for a park that costs almost a year's town budget
Writing about the pool, Charlottesville Tomorrow reported that all $3.9 million was fundraised by the community. Mayor Ron Brooks told the outlet that the town government "has not had to spend a dollar," and credited Gordonsville's grassroots support. The money came in over more than a decade, and each round helped unlock the next:
- Bake sales, early 2010s. Swim team parents started raising money for a new pool. By 2017, the town held about $70,000 in escrow for a pool project.
- Town to Trail, 2017. Residents formed Town to Trail as a working group under the Piedmont Environmental Council. It held community feedback meetings that year, then became its own nonprofit in 2022.
- Land. Community donations and a $100,000 grant from the Virginia Outdoors Foundation paid for two properties linking Verling Park to the Fireman's Fairgrounds. Town to Trail donated them to the town in 2022 under an open access easement.
- The federal match. With a $1 million donation from the Manning Foundation, the town had $1.4 million ready when it applied for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant. The grant is awarded through the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation on behalf of the National Park Service.
- The pavilion. In September 2025, Town to Trail gave the town $70,000 for the event pavilion. Brooks said $35,000 of it came from private donations, matched by a Perry Foundation grant. Once given to the town, the money was matched again through the federal grant.
Published figures for the federal grant don't agree. Charlottesville Tomorrow reported that Gordonsville ultimately received $3 million in federal matching funds, as one of six Virginia recreation projects to get the grant. The Rapidan Register's August 2025 report described a $1.6 million matching grant toward the pool. The two numbers may describe different stages of the match. Either way, the pavilion money shows how the system works. Every local dollar raised drew in more.
The town's Parks and Recreation page also names the Manning Family Foundation, the Piedmont Environmental Council, Orange County, The Market at Grelen, Gordonsville Preservation Associates and Sentara Cares among the contributors. Brooks told Charlottesville Tomorrow that the town and Town to Trail received more than 150 community donations of $10 or more.
The Linney Street entrance
Some of the money went into changing how people get to the park. Charlottesville Tomorrow's account goes back to 1956, when Dix Memorial opened and Black residents could not swim there. A second pool opened on Charles Street in 1959. Dix Memorial became the town's only pool after the Charles Street pool closed in the mid-1980s.
The same report says Town to Trail's feedback meetings brought up two problems. The park signage faced away from the town's historically Black neighborhood. And an abandoned house with a chain link fence at Piedmont and Linney streets blocked the pool from view along the route many neighbors used. In its first year, Town to Trail raised $30,000 that helped the town buy the house and tear it down. The report also noted that new signage had not yet been added.
That corner matters again this fall. On October 15, the town posted that Faulconer Construction had put up "Do Not Enter" signs at Market and Linney streets. The road into the park past Market Street is now one-way, which the notice says is meant "to promote less traffic and a safer environment for all citizens utilizing the pool and park." The town also asked drivers to use caution while people get used to the new pattern.
Why mid-September came and went
The finish date has slipped before. The town's Parks and Recreation page also says costs have risen significantly and that fundraising for grant-match money continues. A 2022 Piedmont Environmental Council page projected completion in June 2024. The town later aimed to open the pool by the July 4 holiday in 2025. The Rapidan Register reported that the pool opened on August 1 instead, after a last-minute Virginia Health Department delay.
Phase 2 has followed the same pattern. The August 2026 Town Manager's Report said concrete pouring, playground installation, walkway adjustments and hardscaping were underway. It set completion for mid-September, "barring any more weather-related delays (or wildfires)." The same report warned that some trees and plantings might have to wait until after the official opening because of drought.
The report also covered drainage beyond the park itself. VDOT had approved a ditch repair estimated at $80,000. Underground culverts costing about $58,000 sit outside the project area but have to be finished because of stormwater flow. Those two items add up to about $138,000, which is twice the $70,000 pavilion gift that took a private donation, a foundation match and a federal match to assemble.
Mid-September has passed, and the park was still closed in the town's September 29 notice. The town has not announced a reopening date or a ribbon cutting. Until it does, the park is off limits, and the September notice says anyone found inside will be asked to leave or referred to the Gordonsville Department of Public Safety.
Where Gordonsville gathers until the gate opens
The rest of the town calendar is still running. Cooke Park, on land donated by the William A. Cooke Foundation, sits on Main Street among the shops and galleries and has benches for sitting outdoors. Here's what's coming up on Main Street:
- Saturday, October 31. Trick-or-treating runs from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m., according to the October 19 Town Council agenda. Gordonsville on Main lists Halloween on Main Street the same day.
- Saturday, November 7. The Veteran's Parade on Main Street, per the same council agenda.
- Monday, November 16. Town Council's regular November meeting begins at 6:30 p.m., following a work session on November 2.
- Sunday, December 6. Holidays on Main Street, with carriage rides and carolers, according to Gordonsville on Main.
The November meetings are the most likely place for an updated park schedule to come up in public. Monthly Town Manager's Reports are posted with each meeting's agenda in the town's document center.
I'd love to hear what you're looking forward to when the fence comes down at Verling Park. Whether you're curious about the blocks around Verling Park or just want to talk about how the town is changing, Patricia Irby would be glad to meet you. Let's connect over coffee.
