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For Immediate Release
June 2, 2003
Arlington Heritage Alliance
Releases 3rd Annual
Most Endangered Historic Places List
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The Arlington Heritage
Alliance, the only private, nonprofit organization
devoted to the protection and promotion of local historic
and natural resources, has released its annual list
of threatened historic resources in Arlington County.
Modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation's
"Eleven Most Endangered Places" list, just released
last week, the Heritage Alliance's list highlights
five significant local resources, including the Joseph
Taber Johnson House, 3000 Block of Clarendon and Wilson
Boulevards, Historic Buildings along Columbia Pike,
Swanson Middle School, and Fort Ethan Allen.
According to the Heritage
Alliance's new Chairman, Shannon Bell, "We hope that
this year's Most Endangered List will increases awareness
of the wonderful historic resources that make up the
fabric of our community. AHA first created our local
Most Endangered list in 2001. This year we've identified
five historic sites that are facing an eminent threat
to their future, as well as several areas or sites
that we are 'watching.' Some of these sites are well
know community landmarks, others are ones you may
drive by often but have never stopped to think about
their history. All of them contribute to the character
of Arlington. In the face of such rapid growth and
increased density, we feel that many residents are
as concerned as we are about the increasing demolition
of Arlington's historic resources; they may not realize
that there is a volunteer group in the county advocating
for their preservation."
The Joseph Taber Johnson
House is threatened by a large townhouse development,
and is just the latest example of inappropriate infill
development happening throughout Arlington's historic
residential neighborhoods. A major development project,
including an 11-story tower, proposed for the 3000
Block of Clarendon and Wilson Boulevards would
destroy the scale and character of this integral portion
of the Clarendon commercial district. Some of the
Historic Buildings along Columbia Pike are
threatened by plans for major redevelopment along
the Pike. Plans for a major addition threaten Swanson
Middle School, the state's oldest middle school.
Fort Ethan Allen, a County-designated historic
district since 1978, remains on the Endangered list
this year as it is still threatened by the inappropriate
placement of a dog exercise area in the center of
the fort. For more information on these threatened
historic sites, please CLICK
HERE.
Watch List
The Arlington Heritage Alliance is also keeping watch
over several sites that could be threatened in the
coming year. Were baseball to come to Arlington, it
would certainly have an adverse effect on the quality
of life and stability of the Historic Neighborhoods
Around the Proposed Locations of the Baseball Stadium.
We are carefully monitoring the plans for the proposed
redevelopment surrounding the Arlington Post Office
in Clarendon, the County's most important historic
civic structure. Development pressures are extremely
high for all the Low-Scale Commercial Buildings
Along the Wilson Boulevard Corridor, and we are
particularly concerned with several small automobile
dealerships and service stations in the Clarendon
area.
Lost List/Updates
Twentieth-century garden apartments continue
to disappear in Arlington at an alarming rate, but
we are encouraged that the National Register of Historic
Places has just accepted a Multiple Resource Listing
for garden apartments in Arlington County, which should
prove to be a valuable tool for examining and evaluating
the significance of garden apartments on an individual
basis. The few Lustron Houses that remain in
Arlington continue to be demolished; the latest was
a Lustron house in Cherrydale. These buildings are
threatened both as a very rare building type within
the County, and also as modest homes on large lots
often subject to demolition for the building of larger
homes.
For more information, please
CLICK HERE
