An Arlington County shopping center and a Loudoun County community center are two of Virginia’s eight most endangered historic buildings, according to a list compiled by a nonprofit preservation organization.
APVA Preservation Virginia cited the World War II-era Lee Shopping Center in Arlington and the New Deal-era Arcola School in Loudoun as two of the most important historic buildings in the state that soon may disappear.
Designed in 1941 and now somewhat dilapidated, the one-story Lee Shopping Center was built in the Moderne style and features limestone and granite facades that set it apart from the all-brick shopping centers in the area at the time.
Arlington Historical Affairs and Landmark Review board last year designated the site as “essential” — the highest ranking of four categories — but the county board in January narrowly approved zoning changes that would allow Abbey Road Property Group to build a larger-scale mixed-use development there.
“The results … finding the building essential were released months after the site plan application was filed and the public review process was well under way,” a January planning department report said. “The current auto-oriented layout of the building also does not conform with county policies to encourage buildings to abut the sidewalk and provide a pedestrian-friendly streetscape.”
The preservation group thinks Arlington should reconsider.
“Arlington County has a commitment to being ‘green,’ ” the APVA report said, “although it has not been persuaded that destruction of a viable and historic solid masonry building far outweighs the “green” aspects of a new replacement building.”
The Arcola School was built in Loudoun County in 1939 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and was the first multiroom public school in the county, according to APVA.
The building was used as Loudoun’s first community center from 1977 until 2006, but the county is considering demolishing it in favor of reconstruction amid rapid population growth in the area.
The other sites on APVA’s list are Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Jolly Pond Dam in James City County, rural places throughout the state, Elliston in Montgomery County, southside Virginia and archaeological resources in developing areas.
