In January of 2024, the 64-year-old HILLBROOK brick monument that identified our neighborhood was smashed in the middle of the night by a truck that slid out of control on snow-covered Little River Turnpike.
After more than a year of discussion with the Virginia Department of Transportation, which has right-of-way control of the property, it became clear that rebuilding the monument would not be done quickly. This is because of scheduled sidewalk and water pipe construction that will continue into 2027.
Meanwhile, the remains of the monument were unsightly to some Hillbrook-Tall Oaks residents. The Hillbrook-Tall Oaks Civic Assn., which does not own the monument, took on the task of cleaning up the site.
HTOCA board members Mohamed Belkhayat, Richard Gill, and Mark Crawford — and Mohamed’s son, Zak Belkhayat — provided the free labor. Costs were kept low because Mohamed supplied his Chevy 1500 truck to haul material to the Fairfax County transfer station on Ox Road in Fairfax.
The job required two separate trips to haul nearly 3,000 pounds of brick, cinderblock, and mortar scrap to the dump. Costs to HTOCA totaled $170.00.