VA Governor’s funding proposal includes $5M for Army Museum memorial parade grounds
December 18, 2019
Joint statement by Surovell, Krizek, Sickles and Storck:
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019, that the proposed state budget will include funding to support the construction of the National Museum of the United States Army, which will open at Fort Belvoir, just off the I-95 and Fairfax County Parkway, next year.
Northam released his proposed state budget at a meeting of the joint money committees in the state capitol, Richmond. The budget includes strategic investments in areas that have been underfunded for decades, including education, our environment, affordable housing, health care, and the criminal justice system.
Additionally, the budget includes $5 million to help the Army Historical Foundation match private donations to construct the Virginia Veterans Memorial Parade Grounds on the museum grounds. The museum plans to open its doors in April 2020.
Officials indicated that they expect the museum to add to the tourism resources in the area, which already includes: the National Museum of the Marine Corps, George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, George Mason’s Gunston Hall, Woodlawn Mansion, and others.
State Senator Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) pursued this funding last year in a budget amendment that failed to win support from the Republican-controlled Senate Finance Committee. He also lobbied Northam to include the funding this year in the proposed budget.
“The National Museum of the United States Army honors the men and women who have served our nation since General George Washington led them to victory in 1781,” Surovell said.
“Coupled with Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, Gunston Hall, and the National Museum of the Army and Marine Corps, it has the potential to create tens of millions of dollars in military and historic tourism revenues in eastern Fairfax County and Prince William County. I want to thank Governor Northam for having the vision to see the potential in our area.”
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State Delegate Paul Krizek (D-Fairfax) also praised the historical significance of the investment.
“The National Museum of the United States Army is a unique facility that will soon come to life, telling the stories of the soldiers who have served our Army so selflessly,” Krizek said.
“Like my colleagues who have worked hard to make this happen, I am pleased the Governor has included funds in his budget to support the construction of this amazing museum; and it is highly appropriate as it was soldiers from the Commonwealth who were among the first to join the Continental Army in 1775.”
State Delegate Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax) serves on the House Appropriations Committee and joined Surovell, Krizek and Northam, for a tour of the museum while it was still under construction earlier this year. He used the opportunity to request the funding.
“I’m especially pleased that Governor Northam included our request to fund the parade grounds at the spectacular National Museum of the US Army,” Sickles said.
“I felt good about our prospects after watching him react during his recent tour of the building and grounds. The museum will be the next great tourist attraction in southeast Fairfax County and Virginia, and I look forward to celebrating the opening in June 2020.”
Local leaders in Fairfax County also praised the decision.
“We are very excited about the tourism potential that the opening of the Army Museum offers our region,” said Fairfax County’s Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck.
“It will be a cornerstone to the Mount Vernon District Cultural Corridor where visitors can tour the Army Museum, Woodlawn Mansion, Pope-Leighey House and the Mount Vernon Estate all within a few miles. It will also provide much-needed event space for our area of the County. With $5 million state tax dollars in the Governor’s budget, Virginia is investing wisely in making our community a better place to live, work, learn and play.”
Text from budget item 465: Included in the appropriation for this Item, $5,000,000 the first year from the general fund to Fairfax County for the construction of the Virginia Veteran’s Parade Field within the National Museum of the United States Army in Fairfax County.
This was a joint statement by State Senator Scott Surovell (36th District), State Delegate Paul Krizek (44th District), Delegate Mark Sickles (43rd District), and Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck (Fairfax County). It was distributed by Surovell’s office on Dec. 17, 2019.