Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Arcola school recognized as endangered historic site
The Arcola School, the old location of the Arcola Community Center on Gum Spring Road, has been placed on a list of endangered historic sites in Virginia.
Some residents of Dulles South are hoping the property's new designation by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities will aid in their fight to preserve the building and renovate it into a new Arcola Community Center.
"We wanted something that would make [the county] think twice about tearing it down," said Laura TeKrony, a resident of Aldie and member of the Arcola Community Center Advisory Committee. "I'm hoping they don't."
The school has a rich history. Built in 1939 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, it was the first multi-room public school in Loudoun County and remained an active school until 1972. From 1977 until early 2006, the building served as the county’s first community center.
Now, the county has plans to demolish the building and build a government center there.
TeKrony and other members of the advisory committee are working toward putting in an application to the Board of Supervisors to ensure that won't happen.
She is hoping the new designation will bring even more volunteers to the building's aid.
"People will be more aware that it is historic now," she said. "There will be more people supporting our efforts."
The Arcola Community Center Advisory Board would like to see the old school used once again as the Arcola Community Center.
There is a desperate need for child care as well as preschool options for residents of the area, TeKrony said.
Paul Brown, assistant to the county administrator, said the new Dulles South Multipurpose Center in South Riding opened this month as the alternative to renovating the old school.
It should provide enough preschool classes and other services for the area, he said, and the county's intentions for the old school are the same as they have been for the past year, despite its new status.
The county's recommendation is to tear down the Arcola School and build a new structure on the site for the county's Southern Government Services Center by 2016.
But supporters of renovating the old school say the new community center in South Riding is too small to suit the needs of those who use the Arcola Community Center on Goshen Road.
"We want to get our team together this summer, and we're hoping to get some other volunteers,” TeKrony said. “Hopefully we'll put in our application by fall."
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.