From guard towers to goalposts: the Fairfax County Park Authority converts an historic prison site into a multi-use park and recreation facility.

In July 2002, the federal government transferred 3,200 acres to the Fairfax County Park Authority in hopes of preserving it and developing it into park and recreational opportunities for the residents living in Lorton, Va.

And while the transfer, worth $4.2 million, is one of the largest land sales in this area, it has another unique feature--the site was once home to the Lorton Prison complex.

Once completed, the area will be the most complex endeavor in Fairfax Authority's history, and is estimated to boast more than five miles of multi-use trails, one cultural center, an 18-hole golf course, an equestrian center, several ballfields, a sportsplex and several community parks.

"It's like planning a community," says Lynn Tadlock, director of planning and development for Fairfax Authority.

In addition to the scope of the project, the process of designing the comprehensive plan is also worth noting. Because the land acquired was once home to a prison, there were parts of the land that could not be renovated for park or recreation use. As a result, the Park Authority sought comments and suggestions from the community about what to do with the land. The two-year process included an interactive Web site where residents and community members established an online forum, personal tours of the facility, as well as dozens of meetings and workgroup sessions to discuss the various options.

"In most cases, when you approach something this large, you typically would hire a master developer to come in and plan all of this out," Tadlock says. "So we totally did this as a public entity working with the community." The end result is a combination of three distinct uses: recreational, environmental and cultural/historical.

The prison dates back to the American Revolution, and the site--now called Laurel Hill--is named after the home of William Lindsay, a revolutionary war patriot who resided in the area. When the Park Authority received the land, the prison structures were mostly gutted by the D.C. Department of Corrections, but it left behind historical artifacts, signs and artwork made by its inmates. These items will be part of a permanent exhibit in the future museum. In addition to the museum, there will also be an artists' marketplace.

"It's part of the place, you can't really escape it," says Judy Pedersen, public information officer for the Park Authority. "So we hope to historically and culturally interpret it."

Other ways to preserve the history of the area are more recreational in purpose. There will be a Heritage Recreation Area that will encompass a park, lighted ballfields and an interpretative program of an on-site farmhouse. The former dairy area for the prisoners will be converted into an equestrian center, which will be built along with community gardens, mountain biking and camping areas.

The Park Authority has invested more than $3 million in developing parks around the area that are already being used by the community, The golf course is under construction and will be opening this fall.

The Laurel Hill project will take at least 10 years to complete, and will be the result of several dozen private-public partnerships. A sportsplex is in the beginning stages of design and is at least 67 acres in size, and Tadlock hopes to begin looking for partners to build the equestrian center.

During the next few years, the Lorton landscape will begin to change. Gone will be many of the guard towers and barbed-wire fencing in exchange for shrubbery and flowerbeds. The activity on the site will no longer include orange-vested men chained together working on outdoor projects, but rather groups of children playing sports. And although the scenery will have changed, the history of the site will still be preserved by the on-site cultural museum.

"There's a lot worth telling in terms of stories here than to pretend it didn't happen," Pedersen says.