A Battle Against the Bulldozers
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Parents Group Is Trying to Preserve Historic Arcola School
Saturday, June 21, 2008
The 69-year-old redbrick building at 24244 Gum Spring Rd. shows its age.
Paint is peeling from the windows, the wood floors aren't spotless, bushes are overgrown and public utilities such as water and sewage aren't hooked up.
Loudoun County officials have long had plans to tear down the building, which served as the Arcola Community Center for nearly 30 years, and put up a satellite government center in its place.
But a group of parents is hoping history will be on its side as it works to preserve the old Arcola School, built in 1939 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal.
"I think it's a shame," said Sandra Mitchell of South Riding, whose children attended the old community center. "There's other land available for parking lots and office buildings that doesn't involve demolishing a historical building."
The property's history was validated in May, when the nonprofit Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities put the former school on its 2008 list of the state's endangered historical sites. The organization said that the Arcola School was the first multi-room public school in Loudoun.
Photo Gallery
Arcola School
Tristan Carney, 4, plays as his mother Adrienne Carney and Sandra Mitchell sit on a bench outside of the Arcola School in Sterling. The mothers want the school to stay open for recreational use and teaching, but Loudoun County has other plans for the building and property. (Leah L. Jones)
Adrienne Carney and Sandra Mitchell want the Arcola School in Sterling to stay open for recreational use and teaching. Loudoun County, however, is looking to use the land the school sits on for different purposes. (Leah L. Jones)
Adrienne Carney walks with her daughter Tatum Carney, 16 months. Carney is advocating to keep the Arcola School open for recreational use and teaching. (Leah L. Jones)
Mitchell and other parents want to see the old school restored and used once again as a community center, a function it served until 2006.
Paul Brown, assistant to the county administrator, said the county welcomes the group's proposal, adding that it would have to address building code requirements and the stricter state regulations for preschools and child-care centers that have taken effect since the Arcola facility was shut down.
"We're in a waiting mode," Brown said. "Our plans are in the future, and we're waiting on their proposal."
The county decided in 2003 that renovating the Arcola School would not be cost-effective and two years ago moved the community center to an elementary school at 24328 Goshen Rd. while a facility was built.
The Dulles South Multipurpose Center, which opened this month, has replaced the Arcola Community Center.
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But the group says the new facility, which isn't fully completed, won't be able to serve all of the area's needs.
More than 400 children are on a waiting list for the community center's preschool program, said Laura TeKrony, who was a member of the Arcola Community Center Advisory Committee.
"There's a huge need, particularly in the Dulles district," TeKrony said. "We felt that this was an opportunity, not only to preserve the school but to bring back the community center."
Getting the school recognized as a historical site is only one step in the group's plan.
The residents are exploring the idea of starting a nonprofit organization, Friends of Arcola Community Center, and of seeking grants for the renovation. They have lined up support from businesses, including local builders who said they would do the renovation at cost, and Inova Health System, which has donated legal services, TeKrony said.
The parents hope to submit a proposal to the county by the end of the year. It is unclear how much the renovation would cost, but TeKrony said estimates were nearly $2 million a few years ago.
Although the Virginia preservation organization might not get directly involved, its annual list has sometimes helped local efforts to save sites.
"It's mainly for awareness ... to help with advocacy on the local level with increased awareness," said Tina Calhoun, marketing and public relations director for the association. "We have had successes in the past."
Those successes include the Hayfield Manor in Caroline County, listed as endangered in 2005. The antebellum mansion, built in 1750, was renovated after appearing on the list and is being used as a community center, said Elizabeth Kostelny, executive director of the preservation association.
As it stands, the old Arcola School is scheduled to be replaced by the 21,000-square-foot Southern Government Services Center by 2016, Brown said. "Our plan is to demolish the old building," he said.
TeKrony said that she knows the group has a big task ahead of it but that she hopes the community will pull together.
"We're parents," she said. "I think it can be done. But it's just a matter of getting the right resources."
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The County Administrative offices registered their concern that an unorganized group filed paperwork on this building, which should be done by the property owner. As Loudoun County is the owner and has designated the site as a future government services satellite use, the County did not seek the listing.
This could call the "endangered historic" designation into question.
In addition, the multimillion-dollar cost estimate produced by an outside engineering firm, which formed the basis for the county decision (participated in by Parks and Rec, which concurred that future recreation funding should be devoted to the regional center) was not only significantly upwards of $2M, but it was issued 5 years ago. How much have the costs risen since then?
Childcare and preschool are special exception uses under RC zoning, and if those approved uses are discontinued at an approved site, they must be resumed within 2 years or they have to go back through the special exception process to be reinstated.
This also adds significant cost to the proposal, as the uses were discontinued there two years ago this month.
If this group is going to organize itself as something specific, then all to the good.
I can understand Ms. TeKrony's sense of personal urgency leading her to do this backwards, but as At Large representative to the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Advisory Board, it is surprising she didn't know better than to travel the route of an attempted historic fait accompli.
This and her opposition to local school sites (which the Comprehensive Plan directs LCPRCS to work WITH LCPS on, as opposed to AGAINST) suggests that perhaps her personal goals are clouding her judgment.
If this group is going to be accepting pro-bono legal assistance in becoming a legitimate group, will Ms. TeKrony cease protesting a Route 50 hospital?
If the area is "too small" for a hospital or secondary schools (those preschoolers and daycare toddlers do grow up fast!), how can it be big enough for duplicate recreation centers?
Food for thought.
Posted by BarbaraMunsey (anonymous) on June 21, 2008 at 2:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It can be done if the County is willing to do so. They renovated what was a severely outmoded school in Purcellville (Carver Center) and are redoing the old LCPS building in Leesburg as well. Perhaps the Towns are easier to deal with regarding land use issues, but the County does have the ability to amend the rules with respect to land use regulations if it is a similar government use.
Posted by LoudounModerate (anonymous) on June 21, 2008 at 3:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is my understanding that the uses sought (preschool and daycare) would be compatible with the county uses planned for the future use of the property.
As it is, there are no utilities or road improvements available to serve the site until approximately 2012, which is why it is in the out-years of planning. The county conclusion on the property, in which LCPRCS participated and concurred, is that utilities and access would need to be addressed in any future use--utilities or rather the lack of them is what drove senior services out of this building in the first place. It is a mess.
Framing it as a battle with the bulldozers certainly gives a sense of immediacy--which still shouldn't sweep under the rug the fact that the group should have approached the county first rather than just filing their endangered list request on behalf of a property they don't own.
Go ahead, take the pro-bono, organize, put together a proposal. Then bring it to the county and GO THROUGH THE PROCESS.
The more funds the county might divert to this small and expensive project are the more funds NOT used to complete the regional center. And a wider variety of people will do without in that case, while a much smaller and discrete constituency gets a small historic building for their limited use.
Nice, but the greater good, not to mention the best use of any tax dollars? Remains to be seen.
Posted by BarbaraMunsey (anonymous) on June 21, 2008 at 5:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Always nice to see Barbara overlook the fact that the County government IS responsible to the citizens, and that we all collectively own that building because the county does.
If a group of citizens wants redress of an issue, they should be heard and in timely manner that prevents the loss of what they seek. If after that they are overruled by a majority of other citizens, the path has less room for objection.
Posted by honchonumberone (anonymous) on June 24, 2008 at 5:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Dean, let's not you overlook the fact that the At Large Representative to Parks, Rec and Open Space filed to have a county owned property listed as an endangered historic resource, when she isn't even a 501c3 yet, let alone the property owner.
Yes, we the citizens own this building--it is presumably COUNTY bulldozers this jewel will be saved from.
Go back and talk to some of the old timers--you know why Arcola was moved across rte 50 to Goshen way back when before any of us lived here, including the At Large rep?
Because Dulles Airport opened, and teachers had to pause every other sentence to be heard when teaching. May be an acceptable environment for getting a dog license or picking up a form, but for exclusive preschool and daycare uses? Hmmm.
In addition, is it a county responsibility to provide preschool and daycare?
The property Ms. TeKrony was interested in "taking back" from the developers--the NEW old Arcola on Goshen Rd--has been sold (yes, while Mr. Miller and his appointees were still having meetings on what to do with the property they didn't and still don't own) to an entity that provides those very services.
Can't the At Large Rep buy her services there, instead of attempting to divert funds from the regional rec and senior center, and deep-sixing a government services office?
It's a LONG drive to Leesburg from down here...
Posted by BarbaraMunsey (anonymous) on June 24, 2008 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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