After Sterling Annex - 2026

So I didn't end up posting about the Sterling Annex site last year. I did stop by, but it hadn't changed since 2024, so no update was really necessary. In late 2025, work had finally started. When I stopped by in January 2026, the site had been fully cleared and concrete had been poured for the pocket park's paths.

View from January 2026

Which now brings us to a few days ago, when I visited again and everything seems to be complete!

Where the baseball field once stood is the new Lindsay Detailing Facility building. The site of the Sterling Annex building is now part of the parking lot. The pocket park encompasses a small sliver of what used to be the front lawn. The pocket park is basically a path that runs through a narrow grassy area between the sidewalk and a retention basin. Along the way are two small circular plazas, ringed around with salvaged brick from the school. The smaller circle is approximately in line with where the school's front path was. The larger circle on the corner of the property features a recreated brick archway and a plaque going over the school's history.

The plaque's sentence layout seem a little disorganized. I also don't know why it brings up that the building was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Any building technically becomes eligible once it turns 50 years old. However, no one applied for it to be listed, so it wasn't.

The park is a nice gesture. Okay, I think it's a little silly. The pocket park's path runs alongside the sidewalk. You can hop from one path to the other. The pocket park doesn't go to any destination the regular sidewalk doesn't also go to. However, the sidewalk also doesn't connect to anything off-property, so there's nowhere to go to or come from. 

Caution, the sidewalk is ending!

There's not much you can do with this plot that's low budget, low maintenance, and with an expected low attendance. It is a green strip next to a car detailing facility and a cloverleaf interchange. It's code compliance with environmental/historical concessions. I wish there had been a more inventive creation, but I get why it is what it is. 

A quick look at the Lindsay Detailing Facility:

Overall, it is nice the history is being acknowledged. This area continues to change rapidly. What is considered "Old Sterling" is disappearing all the time. My camera's mostly been focused on the schoolhouse, but I'd like to take this moment to document the nearby hold-outs.

Tart Lumber

Another vestige of Old Sterling has its own memorialization nearby. Some elements of the Old Sterling United Methodist Church were saved prior to its demolition and were integrated into a pocket park on its former site. The preservation group Save Old Sterling was instrumental in making this happen.

Also, not pictured but I want to shout-out Sterling Annex's predecessor, the Old Sterling Schoolhouse. Opened in 1880, it's still around on 1000 Ruritan Circle!

Thank you for joining me on this documentation journey. It's been 10 years since I started doing annual updates on the Sterling Community Center Annex. It's been a sad journey, but I enjoyed coming out here each year to see how things have changed. I'll always think of this school when I pass through this cloverleaf interchange.

Read all Sterling Annex Posts:
Sterling Community Center Annex (2012)
News on the Sterling Annex Building (2013)
Sterling Community Center Annex - 2016 Update
Sterling Community Center Annex - 2017 Update
Sterling Community Center Annex - 2018 Update

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2019 Update

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2020 Update

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2021 Update

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2022 Update

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2023 Update

Sterling Annex DEMO DAY 1

Sterling Annex DEMO DAY 2

Sterling Annex DEMO DAY 3

After Sterling Annex - 2024

Call for Memorabilia: Banneker Elementary School

Hello there! Quick update. Banneker Elementary, one of the county's older schools (opened 1948) and the only segregated Black school that still operates as a school in the county, is going through a seismic renovation right now. I will cover its history and these current events in a later post. In the meantime, they have placed a call for historical items to help preserve the school and community's legacy. This includes photos, stories, artifacts, documents, and other ephemera, especially during the school's segregated period (1948-1968). I'm posting the two-page flyer below.

If you have any items and would like to help out, please contact bannekerrenovation@lcps.org or (571) 252-1161.

More information on the renovation can be found HERE. Details on the Lending Agreement can by found HERE.

Revisiting Leesburg High School / Senior Center (2026)

I recently swung by The Senior Center of Leesburg, the former Leesburg High School/Elementary School/North Street Administrative Office building. I had last visited when it had just opened up in its current iteration (2012), so it was nice to check it out again. Let's see how the building has been lived in and changed after 14 years, shall we?

Looking at the lobby from the front door

Lots of new things in the lobby. Most noticeably is the rounded plexi-glass shield left over from COVID safety accommodations. A member of staff told me that it was supposed to come down last year, but due to the supports being screwed into the counters themselves, no work has proceeded until new counters come in. Another change is the floor. Building-wide, the carpet has come out and been replaced by wood laminate.

Something I didn't mention last time, during the renovation, workers had found a hidden display case behind a wall, full of old trophies. They planned to display the trophies once the building opened, but they weren't out yet when I visited in 2012. It was nice to finally see them. It's crazy, some of them even pre-date the current 1925 building! I wonder how they survived the former building's fire? 

Another lobby addition is a 1971 news article
on the school's closing.

Throughout the halls are artwork and pottery displays. You can even buy some of the creations made! (They should offer their creations during Leesburg's First Friday and reach a larger audience...)

I'm pretty sure I didn't take any photos of the fitness rooms in 2012 because the rooms were in use at the time. Luckily, this time I was visiting during a brief lull in activity, so that wasn't a problem. Fun fact: The fitness rooms are where the auditorium's stage used to be.

The Group Exercise Room

Fitness Room

Craft Room

The Lounge

In the Ceramics Room, the preserved school chalkboard is buried behind supplies, shelves, and a newly-installed television. If you didn't know it was there, you might miss it.

Then:

Ceramics Room, 2012

Now:

Ceramics Room, 2026

That's not the only disappointing de-emphasizing of the building's history. The proscenium arch of the school's original auditorium has been painted white, camouflaging it into the wall. It is probably easier to repaint the wall this way. It's nice the arch is still there, but I hope it isn't forgotten about and taken down at some point.

Then:

Proscenium Arch, 2012

Now:

Proscenium Arch, 2026

In the multipurpose space/former auditorium, lots of changes here. The wallpaper and curtains are gone. The floor has been changed out, and its replacement has the lines marked out of what I'm guessing is probably a pickleball court. Disregarding the pickleball court, the space unfortunately has had some aesthetic downgrades. Still a functional space. 

*(My 2012 and 2026 pictures below were taken from opposite sides of the multipurpose room, unfortunately I don't have a good before/after photo of this space.)

Then:

Multipurpose Room, 2012

Now:

Multipurpose Room (from the opposite side of the room), 2026

There was one surprise: The former school projector room! In the back of the multipurpose room is an exit with an antechamber with storage closets. In one of the storage closets is a ladder leading up to the projector space. It hasn't been repurposed for anything for the senior center, so it's stayed pretty much the same as it has for decades. A mini time capsule of sorts.

Projector Booth

This space gets a whole lot of light through its window. I'm very curious about the architectural story behind this. Was the window here before the space was allocated as a projector booth? Was it always a projector booth, and they gave it a window anyway? At some point, the window was covered, most likely to solve the light problem for projectionists. During the senior center conversion, the window was uncovered again. No projection booth, no problem!

Reference photo: Auditorium Exterior Door & Window, 2012

Projector openings, 2010

The covered projector openings, 2026

One final change. Last time, a lady told me "You don't look like you're fifty-five!" This time, no one told me that. No one told me I looked fifty-five either, but still. I'm noting my presence here is not as much a juxtaposition as it once was. Still got over two decades before I can enroll in membership, but my youth is clearly fleeting before my eyes!!

The Senior Center of Leesburg appears to be thriving. It has had upgrades and changes to keep up with the times and maintenance. Some of the history is de-emphasized, but it's all still there! All-in-all, a great building that has many more decades of use left!

SOURCES:

Talk Loudoun: School Spirit

Other North Street Articles:

Leesburg High School / North Street

North Street Update (2011)

North Street 2012 Update

Repost: Dr. Hatrick's Salvation South Interview

Hi, hello there! I haven't posted here in a while, and am currently working on some things/thinking about working on some things. In the meantime, I would like to share a recent interview former LCPS Superintendent Dr. Ed Hatrick did with Salvation South. Enjoy!

Salvation South: Inside the School Wars With an Uncommon Common Man

Recent Reads: "The Battle for Loudoun County: Inside the Culture War Between a "Woke" School Board and the Radical Right in America's Wealthiest Suburb"

This blog mostly focuses on the history of the school buildings, rather than the bureaucracy, attendance zone fights, and other antics that goes on daily in Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). This is probably for the best. However, it's not every day a book comes out to discuss an insider perspective on the school system's operation. Enter Wayde B. Byard in The Battle for Loudoun County: Inside the Culture War Between a "Woke" School Board and the Radical Right in America's Wealthiest Suburb. 

Byard served as LCPS' Public Information Officer for over 20 years. During his tenure, he became a mini-celebrity known for his deadpan recorded messages sent out when school was cancelled/delayed due to snow. The book covers his last few years in that role, 2021-2023. After progressive policies pushes the school system into the politicized national spotlight, two sexual assaults at different schools with the same perpetrator launches a right-wing special grand jury investigation. Their findings lead to Byard indicted for an alleged cover-up, placing him on leave without pay. In his memoir, Byard takes you moment-by-moment, from school board meetings at the Administration Building to the defense table at his trial. 

Byard serves as an opinionated narrator, giving the facts of what happened, but also all the tidbits and his opinions about everyone involved. There are some hot takes, and sometimes I wish he shared a little less. But can I blame him? He is a man who (spoiler alert) is acquitted, has retired, and has nothing professionally to lose anymore. But between his over-honesty and a situation that goes from bad to worse, it's an intoxicating read. 

While mainly a story covering terrible circumstances, it's also a story of how Byard rallies his spirits in his hardest moments, like spending time with his young grandson, and cherishing the friends and family that stuck with him through it. After the last few years we have all collectively had, I definitely related to him finding those little things that made him happy/at peace when surrounded by so much uncertainty and worry.

Do I believe his side of the story? Yes. He presents his case very factually and logically. He has his opinions, yes, but he also goes over a lot of concrete material and sources, and it's clear what is fact and what is opinion. And in the end, he was proven not guilty by a jury! I may have some confirmation bias, but his innocence in this matter felt well-supported and secure.

The Battle for Loudoun County is an entertaining read, a fable for how today's political climate can upend anyone's life. It's unfortunately an ever-increasing common occurrence. Check it out! It can be found in bookstores and online.

Recent Reads: "Dirt Don't Burn: A Black Community's Struggle for Educational Equality Under Segregation"

I read a new-to-me book, Dirt Don't Burn: A Black Community's Struggle for Educational Equality Under Segregation, by Barry Harrelson and Larry Roeder. It came out last year, and it's all about education in Loudoun County, so it is the perfect thing to talk about here!

Dirt Don't Burn chronicles Black education in Loudoun County from the Civil War to the late 1960's, when the school system was forced to desegregate. It doesn't just cover education itself, but also the many facets that need to be met in order to have a thriving learning environment: health/sanitation, heating, nutrition, transportation, administration, funding, and teacher education. It also sheds light on the many sung and unsung heroes who championed the fight for better Black education, as well as the work, petitions, letters, and organizing those individuals accomplished.

This book was created by the Edwin Washington Project, a non-profit dedicated to documenting the impact of segregated education in Loudoun. They've done some fantastic work uncovering and preserving stories, data, and history that really hasn't been public knowledge. And this book demonstrates that. The Edwin Washington Project is a subsidiary of the Edwin Washington Society, which was created to foster non-partisan conversations about the value of diversity in modern society, usually with a history/preservation focus.

Back to the book. The book's emphasis is on Black education, but in order to truly explain the dichotomy between the separate education systems in Loudoun, white education also has to be defined, so it really is an overview of both. There is lots to glean from its pages, especially in the early years of public education in the county. This is a thorough book of information that explains the intricacies of Loudoun's early public education system and how it grew. I understand their scope was just covering segregation, but I wish their coverage of events continued beyond that point. While de jure segregation was put to an end, there are still areas of de facto segregation.

The Edwin Washington Society has said they have more books planned, so I look forward to seeing what they publish next. In the meantime, add Dirt Don't Burn to your reading list!

Dirt Don't Burn can be bought online in multiple places. It also is available at select bookstores around Loudoun County. I happened to find one at the Very Virginia Shop in Downtown Leesburg, and it turned out to be an autographed copy! Just goes to show, it never hurts to shop local!