My Summer with Loudoun Schools: Preservation

Showing posts with label Preservation. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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.

One page of flyer calling for memorabilia to celebrate Banneker Elementary's Heritage. Includes a picture of the school and historical photos of students.

The second page of the flyer calling for memorabilia to celebrate Banneker Elementary's Heritage. Gives further information, including lending options and more examples of items.

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

Sunday, April 5, 2026

Revisiting Leesburg High School / Senior Center (2026)

A photo of the front entrance of the Senior Center of Leesburg, a brick one-story structure. To the left and connected is the Library Administration wing entrance.

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?

An image of a square lobby with a wooden circular welcome desk. No one is sitting at the desk. There are some Caution Wet Floor signs around the lobby, along with mats over a wooden laminate floor.

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?

An image of a black, built-in display case. On the upper level are numerous shiny trophies and plaques. On the bottom level is a lot unrelated knick-knacks, overstuffed. with jewelry, bowls, holiday decor, office supplies, and whatnot.

An close-up image inside of two shelves inside the black trophy display case. The trophies are golden and shiny. Some are cups, some are plaques, some have golden models in athletic poses with balls and bats.

An image of a framed yellowing full-page newspaper article hanging on a wall. The article is titled "Leesburg School Closes Classroom Doors" from the Loudoun Times-Mirror, July 29, 1971.

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...)

An image looking down a white hallway with brown/black chair rails, doors, and chairs. On the wall on the right is a small display of paintings.

An image of a long glass shelving unit holding many different pottery pieces. The shelf is sitting against a white wall in the Senior Center of Leesburg.

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.

An image of an empty exersize room. A bar and mirrors goes across one wall. In the reflection, you can see chairs and other exersize equipment. The floor is covered with a gray marley dance floor..

The Group Exercise Room

Fitness Room

An image of a room with two long row of tables with chairs. Cabinets and counters line one wall. There are paintings, sewing projects, and thread storage sorters on the counter.

Craft Room

An image of an empty lounge. Along one wall are built-in shelves with books and trophies. Along the perimeter of the room are green cushion chairs. In the middle of the room is a conference table with red office rollable chairs.

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:

An image of the ceramics room in 2012. The walls are empty and supplies are orderly. Along the back wall is a green chalkboard behind plexi-glass.

Ceramics Room, 2012

Now:

An image of the ceramics classroom in 2026, from the same perspective as in 2012. More supplies, shelves, and artwork cover the wall. The green chalkboard behind plexi-glass is covered by much of it, as well as some taped-on signs and a big screen television mounted to the wall. The TV has a Progressive Insurance ad playing.

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:

An image of a large, decorative square arch in 2012. The arch is painted tan next to a white wall.

Proscenium Arch, 2012

Now:

An image of a large, decorative square arch in 2026. It is from the same perspective as the previous picture. The arch is painted white next to a white wall.

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:

A picture of the multipurpose room in 2012. There are tables set out. On the right are people dancing. The walls are yellow and curtains hang around the windows. The floor has four black squares, each with a sunburst motif inside them.

Multipurpose Room, 2012

Now:

A picture of the multipurpose room in 2026 (a different perspective than in 2012, sorry). The room is empty of people but still full of tables. The walls are white and the windows are unadorned, except for blinds. The floor has a wood laminate pattern, as well as lines making up some sort of sport court. I don't know sports, sorry.

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!

An image of the exterior of the former Auditorium in 2012. It is a brick building with rectangular windows and exterior molding. There is a half-circle window above the entry doors.

Reference photo: Auditorium Exterior Door & Window, 2012

A picture looking up at the projector room openings from inside the booth, 2010. Some plaster is off of the bricks around the openings. There are disconnected wires exposed. In the room beyond, you can see the wooden roof support structure.

Projector openings, 2010

A picture looking up at the projector room openings from inside the booth, 2026. Same perspective as the previous photo. Shiny silver material now covers the projector holes and most of the exposed brickwork. There are now new pipes and wires sticking into the wall, along with some of the disconnected ones that were there previously.

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

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

Saturday, March 16, 2024

LCHS 70th Celebration Events!

Logo courtesy of LCHS

If you have read many/any of the posts here, you can probably guess I have a huge love for my alma mater Loudoun County High School. Well, this year is the 70th anniversary of school's opening, and the school administration is throwing a year-long party!!

Here is the full lineup of events:

February 3rd - 70th Anniversary Winter Fest [open to students only]

Week of April 8th - Decades Spirit Week [open to staff and students only]

April 12th, 6pm - Concert on the Lawn: This is the main kick-off event of the 70th Anniversary Celebration, taking place on the picturesque front lawn. The concert will include the staff band Staff Infection, current student Sela Campbell, and LCHS 2013 alumna Emma Rowley. Food trucks will also be on-site.

April 13th, 12pm - Afternoon Tea and Tours: Like the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee for her 70th year on the thrown, this is the 70th year of LCHS's reign as the crown jewel of LCPS. In that grand tradition, the school is hosting a Jubilee tea, accompanied by historical tours open to alumni and former staff. Archival photographs, artifacts, and stories from the past 70 years will be on display.

April 19th - Prom [open to students only]

May 4th - LCHS Marching Band performs in the Apple Blossom Festival's Grand Feature Parade: The annual festival and parade is located in Winchester, Virginia. Come to support the marching band, stay for all the additional festival fun (and apple blossoms)!

June 18th - 70th Graduation Ceremony (the hands-down best high school graduation venue in Loudoun County) (unless it rains *knock on wood*)

Week of September 16th - Homecoming Spirit Week [open to staff and students only]

September 19th, 6:30pm - Homecoming Parade and Food Trucks: Bringing back a classic tradition, the Homecoming Parade! The parade route will be from the Safeway (437 S King Street) to the LCHS bus loop

September 19th-20th - Additional School Tours!

September 20th - Homecoming Football Game and Tailgate [Tailgate only open to students and staff; football game open to all] Go Captains!

September 21st - Homecoming Dance [open to students only]

There are other ways to get involved. The school's literary magazine The Crow's Nest typically only allows submissions from current students/staff. This year for the 70th, they are also accepting submissions from future and former students/staff!! This is a really exciting opportunity to share art from multiple generations! Learn how you can submit HERE. Last day to submit is March 18th!

Then, there is sponsorship! If you are able to give back to your alma mater, consider doing so! This will honor your time and memories, as well as positively impact future generations of learners! Funds raised will go towards school improvement projects, including (but not limited to) new professional hallway murals, and an update to popular seating areas on the school grounds. For more detailed information on sponsorship, please check out LCHS's 70th Anniversary Sponsorship Page.

Can't wait to see you all at County this year, it'll be a blast!

Monday, June 13, 2022

Sterling Community Center Annex - 2022 Update

Sterling Annex, 2022

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

I have been documenting the Sterling Annex here for a decade now. Wow. It's hard to look back at that first post I wrote and realize how much of a beating the building has taken since then.

Today, I have some updates to share I wasn't aware about until late last year (Thank you to the anonymous commenter who tipped me off!). In 2020, Belfort Furniture sold the Sterling Annex property to the Lindsay Automotive Group. Lindsay is a local car chain with locations all over the D.C. Metro Region. One of their locations, Lindsay Volkswagen of Dulles, happens to be just down the street. Lindsay's plan for the property is to build a car detailing facility there. The school building would be razed, but bricks would be saved to be reused in a "pocket park" on the property to memorialize the school. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Lindsay worked to change the zoning for the property from Planned Development -- Commercial Center (Community Center) to Planned Development - General Industry. The Board of Supervisors approved this change in October 2021. Since then, news on the property has been pretty quiet. We'll see what happens next.

Here's what 2022 has brought so far:

Front school entrance

Most visibly from Shaw Road are the Lindsay cars parked on the property. Part of Lindsay's rezoning application involved being able to store vehicles within the front of the property.

On the front steps, looking toward the west.
Tall grass, and parked cars.

Former gravel parking lot behind annex now a car storage lot.

The metal machinery on the backside of the roof has now been removed. Their wooden bases still remain.

Wooden bases on the roof (seen below the chimney)

And then there are the power lines. Every time I've visited the school, a couple powerlines have kept the school connected to the power grid. What they powered, I couldn't tell you, nor would I feel safe trying to find out. In the past year, the power lines have been cut.

Cut power lines

The flooded basement stairs' water level is at its lowest to date. So much so, I was able to go down them and peek through a door I've never seen open.