My Summer with Loudoun Schools: Current Events

Showing posts with label Current Events. Show all posts

Monday, August 19, 2024

Arcola School - 2024 Update

An image of the 1939 Arcola School at an angle. Sunshine is hitting the front of the one-story brick building with white trim. There are concrete stairs and a ramp going down from the elevated entrance. A bench sits to the right of the stairs on a concrete pad. A series of black wires reach out towards technological equipment on the building.

Where we last left the 1939 Arcola School in 2022, Loudoun's Board of Supervisors had voted to transfer the building and site over to Capretti Land Inc. contingent on a couple factors. Since then, the Board of Supervisors reviewed Capretti's rezoning application for the land in October 2023 and voted to approve it! Huzzah! As of now, the building is still owned by the County, so there are probably some other processes everyone is working through, but this is a great step towards the building's adaptive reuse.

Out of the board room, the school's condition is ... perhaps slightly better? Things I've noted here in previous posts have been addressed around the property. We love signs of continued maintenance! Let's take a look around...

Most of the spots where there were paint flaking have been repainted white, including the trim and front doors. It makes the façade look really sharp and less abandoned!

An image of the 1939 Arcola School, a one-story brick building with white trim. All the windows are boarded up. The grass on either side of the path leading to the school is mown.

Grass is mown, and other plants have been cut down around the building

Above the main entrance

Places where I had seen wood rot have been addressed. I'm not sure if the wood was replaced or covered over. Is this a band-aid fix until major renovation can occur? Either way, it looks so much better than it did two years ago.

An image looking up at the white trim molding on a corner of the brick 1939 Arcola School building. There is a white rain gutter, downpipe, and a couple miscellaneous wires around the corner.

An image of a side of the 1939 Arcola School, a one story brick building with white trim. There is one elevated entrance (doors boarded up) with stairs to the ground, and one window to the left of the doors. On the side borders are brick quoins.

Short end of the building

A detail image of a school bell of the 1939 Arcola School. It is painted white to match the trim it is against. Below it is the red brick of the school, along with a vertical series of brick quoins. I like the word quoins.

Old school bell

The backside of the building continues to be main target for vandalism and possible break-ins.

An image of the backside of the 1939 Arcola School. Windows are boarded up. The boards on the window closest to the left is fresh yellow-brown (newly placed), while most of the others are a faded brown. There are white blocks of paint on some of the boards. The ground is grassy around the school, then fades to a gray gravel parking lot.

An image of another section of the backside of the 1939 Arcola School. Most of the windows are boarded, but there is a square that is missing off the top of one. There is glass and wood surrounding the spot.

Recent window vandalism

An image of the 1939 Arcola outdoor stairs down into the basement. There is a black railing, a couple vine plants growing, and some miscellaneous trash.

Stairs to the basement

An image of an overhang structure above doors into the 1939 Arcola School auditorium. The doors are blocked off by a metal gate. The overhang is bordered by metal, but its underside is composed of white-painted wood that is rotting/falling down.

Deteriorating wood under an overhang into the auditorium

An image of another section of the backside of the 1939 Arcola School. Next to the brick building, there is asphalt, a couple vine plants growing, the broken remains of a chain-link fence, and a couple wooden boards in a pile.

The shed I looked at two years ago is now gone

Light bulb

An image of concrete, bordered by grass. In the concrete, there is some writing that was carved into it when it was freshly poured. It looks to say "D Furr, C McInto, D Harris, 11-11-02."

Some names scrawled into the concrete

In previous years, I had noted there was a whole fenced-off area on one side of the building that was severely overgrown. It's now all cut down! Sure, it's not much to look at, but it's better than it was!

An image peering over a fence along one side of the 1939 Arcola School. There is grass, dirt, and a hilly mound in the fenced-off area. On the brick school are more windows and a set of double doors, all boarded up, as well as stairs from the door to the ground.

The grounds' amenities continue to be limited, but in most cases, that's probably for the best while the site prepares for its future.

An image of a metal baseball backstop, metal bleachers, a water fountain with a pebble aggregate concrete base. Beyond the backstop is a grassy field, and then trees. One tree is next to the bleachers.

Baseball field with a grassy diamond

An image of a fenced off area full of short green vegetation. In the back are trees with green leaves. On the chain-link fence is a blue sign that says "Playground Closed."

The playground's play structures have all been removed now.

An image of two empty basketball courts next to each other. There are four metal basketball backboards, three of which have glassy backboards. The fourth is missing. There are no basketball hoops.

All the basketball hoops are gone

An image looking through the chain-link fence surrounding a tennis court. There are large cracks in the court, with tall weedy vegetation growing up through them.

The tennis courts are cracked and weedy

An image of a square wooden pavilion with a gable roof. There are five wooden picnic benches under the pavilion. Grass and trees surround the pavilion, while moss grows on the roof's wooden shingles.

The field pavilion is in pretty good shape

An image of a grassy field, bordered by trees.

The field

Well! After my last couple check-ins at the Sterling Annex building, it's nice to see maintenance and upkeep happening in a positive direction. Arcola's future looks bright, and hopefully its hardest struggle is behind it.

An angled image of the front of the 1939 Arcola School. In the foreground stretches the accessibility ramp from the front entrance. All the windows on the one-story brick building are boarded up.

SOURCES:

Loudoun Now: Old Arcola School Approved for Affordable Housing

Loudoun Times-Mirror: Housing development centered on historic Arcola school approved

Email Correspondence with Capretti Land, Inc - June 2024

Read other Arcola School Posts:
The Three Schools of Arcola (2011)
Arcola School - 2017 Update

Arcola School - 2019 Update

Arcola School - 2022 Update

Thursday, March 10, 2022

Arcola School - 2022 Update

Arcola School, 2022

I took off posting about the 1939 Arcola School last year because there hadn't seemed like much of a change from 2017 to 2019, and there hadn't been any news. Well, there is news now!

Last week, the Board of Supervisors voted to transfer the building and its land to Capretti Land Inc. Capretti plans to develop the land and adjacent parcels into 300 housing units, at least 74 of those being affordable housing. The transfer is contingent on Capretti filing and getting approval for the properties' rezoning, as well as securing financing for the affordable housing. If these two things don't happen within the next two years, the school property will go back to Loudoun County.

Capretti's current plans call for the Arcola School to be renovated and house 10 of the affordable housing units and one community room. The property would also feature "public recreational and parking facilities, a public recycling facility and two bus stops."

This project has a couple more things going for it than Windy Hill Foundation's 2016 proposal did. Capretti's project also includes the project across the street, while Windy Hill only involved the Acola property. There's also the fact that the county's noise zones are currently changing. Based on a new noise study, Arcola's property will no longer be in Dulles Airport's noise zone.

It all sounds pretty good. I'm typically against new housing in Loudoun County. (I thought there was too much housing building when I was in elementary school! And yet it keeps happeningggggg) But if development has to occur, it's nice to see old buildings being preserved and incorporated into the plans. There can be a balance between a community's past character and the enhancements the present can bring.

So, that's the news and my two cents on it. Let's look around the property!

Front of Arcola School

Front Door Handle Detail

There does seem to be a lot more paint chipping, which is sad to see. It's looking a little ragged.

Light above the front door

Flagpole and eaves

The backside of the school

I discovered there are stairs leading down to a basement. Probably never noticed them before because I usually go in the summertime, when there is full vegetation. Unlike Sterling's annex school, the drainage here appears to still be working and is not flooded.

Stairs to basement space

Some boards over windows have come off, allowing my first peek into the building since 2011. It appears people have been able to break in and vandalize the space.

From the front door, 2022

From 2011, the same view

View into one classroom from a partially boarded-up window

A broken window, covered up

Looking around the rest of the property...

There are two deteriorating wooden sheds along the back of the building. One was open, revealing field equipment and an old concessions sign.

"Welcome to Arcola's Holiday Craft Bazar
Sponsored by Arcola Community Center Advisory Board
& Loudoun County Parks & Recreation"

The field still looks good and usable.

Arcola Field

The basketball court is clean, but there are no nets anymore.

Arcola Basketball Court

One of the playground structures has been removed.

Arcola Playground

There is also some security presence. There is one security camera set up by the County Recycling Drop-off. Hopefully, this will deter anyone from vandalizing the front of the building.

Solar-powered security camera

Well. Glad I stopped by, glad there is exciting potential plans, glad Arcola still stands. Till next time!

Arcola School, 2022

Sources:

Loudoun Now: County Supervisors Give Arcola School for Affordable Housing Project

Loudoun Times-Mirror: Loudoun supervisors agree to transfer parcels of Old Arcola School site for new homes

Read other Arcola School Posts:
The Three Schools of Arcola (2011)
Arcola School - 2017 Update

Arcola School - 2019 Update

Arcola School - 2024 Update

Monday, January 4, 2021

Recap: The End of the Loudoun County Raiders

I wanted to write a recap on the aftermath of my post about removing Loudoun County High School's Raider mascot. It has been covered elsewhere, but I wanted to write something here to give closure on this platform.

So, Deirdre & I started the petition to change the mascot on June 19, 2020. This led to a lot of social media conversations and the creation of a counter petition. In all, our petition received 2,369 signatures.

The next thing we did was both speak at the June 23 virtual School Board Meeting in favor of changing the mascot. The meeting went into the night, mainly because the agenda also included discussing the COVID reopening options for the school system. The Board decided to have a vote on the mascot at their next meeting on June 29. This was so the public would be able to have input on the matter. The Board also reviewed their “Proposed Action Plans to Combat Systemic Racism." One of the sections had already included considering renaming the Loudoun County Raider mascot.

On June 29, Deirdre & I spoke again to the School Board. At 1:07am (Another long meeting), the School Board unanimously voted to remove the Raiders as Loudoun County's mascot. The Board would let LCHS pick the new mascot. They also said they would request additional funds from the Loudoun Board of Supervisors to cover the costs of changing the mascot (i.e. sports uniforms, murals, signage, the decal on the gym floor, etc). The cost was estimated to be $1 million.

Two weeks later, Principal Luttrell announced the school's plan to change the mascot:

72 mascot ideas were submitted. Out of those, the Student Council Association (SCA) and LCHS staff whittled that down to three choices: the Bears, the Captains, or the Colts. Students were asked to vote on their favorite over two weeks in August.

On September 2, in a live broadcast from the front steps of the school, the new mascot was unveiled:

The Captains!

Screenshot from the mascot announce livestream 9/2/2020
(Loved the uplighting that was added!)

"A captain is the leader of a vessel, navigating their team through both peaceful and tumultuous times. A captain possesses qualities like those embodied by LCHS students: leadership, resourcefulness, pride, charisma, strong character, honor, service, dedication and thoughtfulness. A nod to the LCHS NJROTC program and maritime tradition, Captains take full responsibility for their team and their vessel and commit to being the last one off their ship in dangerous or even fatal circumstances. Captains earn respect by making difficult decisions with the best interest of all in mind."
- Official LCHS Captain mascot description

Six new logos designs premiered. One featured what a Captain looked like, which received some criticism on its design (Link and link).

The Raider iconography has been phased out in Athletics, but other instances of it in the school building remain for the time being. Deciding what is done with them will be discussed in future conversations with students.

I would like to commend the current LCHS students, staff, SCA, and Principal Michelle Luttrell. You all were thrust into action, with pressure from many differing sides, over a summer break, in the midst of a pandemic, and still made it all happen. You all have shown great leadership and professionalism throughout this process. The road ahead still has tough patches to go through. There is still more work to be done. But seeing how you have handled it so far, I know you can do it. You make me very proud to be a Captain.

Thank you to the Loudoun County School Board. You made the right decision. Please continue combatting systemic racism in all forms, big and small.

Thank you to everyone who spoke or wrote in favor of changing the mascot to the School Board. Thank you for being civically engaged and righting a wrong that has lasted too long! Keep doing the good work.

Shout out to LCHS's newly-renamed school paper The County Chronicle for excellent coverage on all the many aspects on changing the mascot!!

Go Captains!

Front sign redone Summer 2021

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2020 Update

Sterling Annex - 2020

[Update August 2023: This school has now been demolished. Check out Sterling Annex DEMO DAY 1]

In the year 2020, I stepped out into the pandemic wasteland to bring you photos of what the outside world looks like! The outside around the Sterling Annex building, that is. As expected, little things have changed, but nothing major.

The grass has not been mown in a while. It is quite high.

Front door

The front door is boarded up differently again. One of the old plywood pieces lays on the ground in front of the door.

A back corner of Sterling Annex

The other back corner of Sterling Annex

Random trucks, wood, and metal is being stored behind the school. A couch has also been discarded here.

Former playground location

When I went by the playground, I heard some rustling and briefly saw a fox running away. Sorry, fox!

My favorite door

Stagnant water is lower than I've seen it!

One of the plywood panels had been pulled off an auditorium window. I peeked in the opening to see what it looked like inside the building:

Sterling Annex Auditorium Stage

Back of Auditorium. See hole in floor between the doors.

It looks like the building continues to be broken into. It is becoming a canvas for graffiti artists. There is a hole in the floor of the auditorium, don't know if that was intentionally created or due to a leak from a hole in the roof.