Lovettsville High School, circa 1955

LOUDOUN COUNTY PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION COALITION’S LEADERSHIP SEEKS PRESERVATION OF LOVETTSVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER

The following letter was sent to the Board of Supervisors by the Executive Committee of the Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition:
May 1, 2020
The Honorable Phyllis Randall
Chair, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
1 Harrison Street SE
Leesburg, VA  20177-7000

Dear Chair Randall and Members of the Board of Supervisors:

Re: Preservation of the Historic Lovettsville Community Center

The Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition, a group of 51 non-partisan, non-profit organizations concerned with historic preservation and the environment, at our Meeting on April 28, 2020 discussed the preservation of the historic Lovettsville Community Center from demolition.  The members present authorized the Executive Committee of the Coalition to write you in support of not demolishing the Center.

You are now familiar with the issues based on previously submitted information from the Heritage Commission and the Lovettsville Historical Society, so we will not repeat them here.

It was under your leadership that the Board of Supervisors reversed the County decision to locate the new Aldie Fire House in the middle of that Historic Village.  The result of that decision has won the praise of the entire preservation community and indeed an excellent replacement site was found.

This leadership is needed now to preserve this historic Community Center so that it can continued to be used by the citizens of Lovettsville.  The people of the Town have proposed an alternate site for the new Community Center across the street on land already owned by the County.

The Loudoun 2019 Plan and the Heritage Preservation Plan call for the adaptive reuse of historic structures.  The importance of these places is much better understood today than in 2014 when the original decision to demolish was taken.

We ask you to review the original decision and stop the demolition as currently planned.

Signed: Executive Committee of the Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition

Al Van Huyck, Chair, Gem Bingol, Mitch Diamond, Owen Snyder, Maura Walsh-Copeland, Jennifer Moore, and Michael Myers