Fantasy Urban Design Project #2: Create a Beach for NOVA (rent, how much)

[normie]

Here's another fantasy project for you Urban Design buffs. The one thing NOVA doesn't have is a beach. Where would you put one, and why did you choose that location?

Some other questions to tickle the imagination:
1. Would you charge admission?
2. Would this be an indoor facility so people could go to the beach during the winter?
3. Would it be strictly a beach, or would you include satellite businesses to bring in money (cafes and such).
4. How big would this beach be, and would you build a wave machine?
5. What would be some of the challenges in building a beach?
6. Do you think a business like this would beprofitable?

[Caladium]

Now this is something I'd really like to see happen! Isn't there a golf course in Ashburn that went bankrupt? That would be where I'd put it. A nice big space that's already surrounded by a neighborhood full of kids. And already has plenty of parking.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by normie

1. Would you charge admission?

Absolutely, and double during the winter. Maybe triple in February.

Originally Posted by normie

2. Would this be an indoor facility so people could go to the beach during the winter?

If it was indoors, it would have to be huge. But I like the idea of an indoor beach. That makes it a lot more than just a lake with sand poured around the edge. You could add the scents of coconut tanning lotion and the sound of waves and seagulls. You could have a giant wave machine. You could project images on the wall from famous beaches--and advertise this, too. People who miss California could see a virtual recreation of their favorite beach on Saturday mornings. Then, Saturday afternoon the images are from the Riviera. And Sunday is one Hawaiian beach after another.

Originally Posted by normie

3. Would it be strictly a beach, or would you include satellite businesses to bring in money (cafes and such).

Satellite businesses bring in the $$$. I would have restaurants, fudge shops, brew pubs, souvenirs, all the things you find at a beach. The shops would be open free to the public, but would have no access to the beach. (You could look out windows or from a deck and see people playing on the beach, however.)

Originally Posted by normie

4. How big would this beach be, and would you build a wave machine?

Huge. And you gotta have a wave machine, then you can rent boogie boards.

Originally Posted by normie

5. What would be some of the challenges in building a beach?

Nobody would ever want to leave.

Originally Posted by normie

6. Do you think a business like this would beprofitable?

I think it would be outrageously profitable. Wish I had some spare cash to start something like this. Wonder how much a thing like this would cost, anyway?

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by FromVAtoNC

Now this is something I'd really like to see happen! Isn't there a golf course in Ashburn that went bankrupt? That would be where I'd put it. A nice big space that's already surrounded by a neighborhood full of kids. And already has plenty of parking.

If you mean The Presidential on Waxpool, it is now part of the Dulles 28 Centre and recently opened as the 1757 Club.

[normie]

Originally Posted by cdmurphy

If you mean The Presidential on Waxpool, it is now part of the Dulles 28 Centre and recently opened as the 1757 Club.

Good to hear the Presidential got a buyer. So we need a different site... it's just as well. A golf course is a big thing, probably much bigger than we'd need. Can you imagine how big the building would need to be if our beach covered the whole course?

Instead of a golf course, I think a better bet for creating a virtual reality beach would be to use an abandoned big box store. A big one, of course, not a former Circuit City. Those big box structures already have awesome ductwork and the frameworks are usually pretty solid. Or maybe even combine two empty big box stores, there's got to be a shopping plaza somewhere in NOVA with two empty big box stores next to each other. Anyone know of a few?

I like the idea of running different beach videos on the wall. And you need to have videos of the sunrise and sunset, too. Let people have the experience of time passing, of spending the whole day at the beach. As well as the beach at night, because wouldn't it be great to have bonfires and night time parties there! Maybe they could even let people camp there overnight.

[normie]

Originally Posted by FromVAtoNC

Satellite businesses bring in the $$$. I would have restaurants, fudge shops, brew pubs, souvenirs, all the things you find at a beach. The shops would be open free to the public, but would have no access to the beach. (You could look out windows or from a deck and see people playing on the beach, however.)

I like this idea--and why stop at a ring of satellite businesses around the beach? Why not make it a walkway ringing the beach with stores on both sides, that would make the pedestrian mall fans happy. The stores on the inner ring would be "beachy" since they'd have windows overlooking the beach. The outer ring of stores could just be regular stores.

This would allow another "beach tradition" to be incorporated--rollerblading. And since it's a beach, girls in bikinis rollerblading!


Hey, why not? You could build a roller blading strand that goes around the beach, then maybe through a tunnel and out onto the pedestrian mall. They'd have a special rollerblading track down the middle of the mall so that the skaters could enjoy gliding around the beach and past all the stores. If you made it interesting enough I bet people would pay to skate it.

[springfieldva]

Originally Posted by normie

I like this idea--and why stop at a ring of satellite businesses around the beach? Why not make it a walkway ringing the beach with stores on both sides, that would make the pedestrian mall fans happy. The stores on the inner ring would be "beachy" since they'd have windows overlooking the beach. The outer ring of stores could just be regular stores.

This would allow another "beach tradition" to be incorporated--rollerblading. And since it's a beach, girls in bikinis rollerblading!


Hey, why not? You could build a roller blading strand that goes around the beach, then maybe through a tunnel and out onto the pedestrian mall. They'd have a special rollerblading track down the middle of the mall so that the skaters could enjoy gliding around the beach and past all the stores. If you made it interesting enough I bet people would pay to skate it.

By "walkway" you mean boardwalk, right? It would have to have a boardwalk with arcades and such .

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by normie

This would allow another "beach tradition" to be incorporated--rollerblading. And since it's a beach, girls in bikinis rollerblading!


Hey, why not? You could build a roller blading strand that goes around the beach, then maybe through a tunnel and out onto the pedestrian mall. They'd have a special rollerblading track down the middle of the mall so that the skaters could enjoy gliding around the beach and past all the stores. If you made it interesting enough I bet people would pay to skate it.

If the roller blading track runs around the beach, through a tunnel, and then around the public shopping area, what will prevent people from bringing their own skates, jumping on the track for free where it runs in front of the stores, and then getting free access to the beach through the tunnel?

[normie]

Originally Posted by springfieldva

By "walkway" you mean boardwalk, right? It would have to have a boardwalk with arcades and such .

Love it! And maybe a bumper car ride that's designed to resemble the beltway.

[normie]

Originally Posted by FromVAtoNC

If the roller blading track runs around the beach, through a tunnel, and then around the public shopping area, what will prevent people from bringing their own skates, jumping on the track for free where it runs in front of the stores, and then getting free access to the beach through the tunnel?

You'd need a wall, I guess. Glass walls, of course, since you want to be able to see the skaters (especially if they're going to be wearing bathing suits!) The roller blade track could run down the middle of the boardwalk, separated from the people shopping by walls on both sides of the track. And a door at the entrance to the tunnel so you can keep people from jumping the wall and getting in after hours.