A photo tour of D.C. United’s proposed training & USL site

Approximately ten minutes from two separate Dulles Greenway exits and equidistant from Route 7 lie the more than 400 acres of Philip Bolen Park (named for the longtime Loudoun County Commissioner), where the two strips of land for D.C. United's proposed training facility site and USL stadium will sit on the East and West sides of the Park, respectively.

Before entering the park, you see that the entrance is across the street from an airstrip. That would be Leesburg Executive Airport, aimed at private flights and/or aspiring pilots, though it also receives carryover traffic from Dulles International Airport a few miles east.

Black & Red United

When you enter the park from the west (at a Park and Ride Lot mentioned as one of the parking lots for the stadium), you’ll find yourself looking at the offices for Loudoun Soccer, a Development Academy partner of the Black-and-Red entering their fifth decade of identifying young players for college opportunities. The half-mile drive along Claudia Drive takes you to Crosstail Boulevard, which is being extended out to Sycolin Road from Battlefield Parkway and Kincaid Boulevard, providing additional entrance points from the west and north of the park, respectively.

Unfortunately, Crosstail is not open while it's being expanded, so a look at the land around Complex 1 (where two football fields sit, and where additional parking has been identified) is going to have to wait. From that direction, you can see the pathway from those fields, leading up to the proposed site of the USL stadium:

Black & Red United

Black & Red United

From this point, the land for the stadium is catty-corner. The perspective below looks towards the Crosstail work, then from the Park and Ride Lot, looking south down towards the stadium site.

Black & Red United

Black & Red United

Black & Red United

Black & Red United

Staying on Claudia, you pass a cluster of baseball/softball diamonds on Complex 2 & 3, and a series of soccer fields on Complex 4. These fields are NOT the ones referred to in documents about the land; new fields will be created in addition to those for the training site and team offices. The land for that would appear to be just beyond the power towers, where a gravel roadway starts (and across from the existing fields):

Black & Red United

Black & Red United

Black & Red United

The boundaries of this second sheet of land run to the Parks edge on the East, with a road effectively serving as the boundary. Sheet 1 (the USL stadium) will be just off Crosstail, with some additional land for expansion of that site should it be warranted, though with sloped terrain it would appear at least to be a slightly snug fit a la Audi Field. For further illustration, here are two maps from the County’s website:

Loudoun County

Loudoun County

Barring complication, next week’s hearing should see the Loudoun Board of Supervisors approve the Memorandum of Agreement, allowing staff to simultaneously draft a lease based on the terms in the document as well as beginning the entitlement and development process for the land in the pictures above.