New Historical Signs Approved
Representatives from Main Street Lexington made appearances at the city’s Architectural Review Board and City Council meetings last Thursday in relation to the Courthouse Square project. They were seeking approval from the ARB for some additional elements of the project that had not been previously approved, and updating City Council on the project’s progress.
Rebecca Logan, MSL’s point person for the project, led the presentations at both meetings. At the ARB meeting, she presented the board with designs for three signs that would be placed at different places throughout the square with historic information about various topics related to local history.
One will have information about the founding of Rockbridge County and a second will have information about the old jail and Thomas U. Walter, the architect who designed it. Those signs will both be 36 inches by 18 inches. The third sign will be placed near the relocated war memorial and will contain information about Rockbridge County’s contributions to various wars throughout the nation’s history. That sign will be 36 inches by 24 inches. The sign designs were also presented to City Council.
Approval was also requested for an 18-inch by 12-inch plaque to thank all of the local donors who provided funding for the project. The plaque would be black with gold lettering and mounted on a granite stone which will sit near the entrance to the square.
Some of the lighting that was originally approved was also changed, with several smaller flood lights taking the place of a series of Dominion Energy light poles. The change, Logan noted, will save the city money due to the fact that the city would have to pay $50 per light pole per year while they were in use.
Caroline Alexander moved to approve the changes as presented and Michael Perry provided the second. The motion carried in a 3-0 vote among the four board members present at the meeting. The fourth, Arthur Bartenstein, recused himself from the discussion and vote due to being the designer for the project.
The approval of these elements was included in Logan’s update to City Council later that evening. She also noted that, since the moving of the Veterans Memorial last fall, work on the rest of the square has continued. The terracing of the square has been completed and the concrete which outlines the areas that will hold the trees and other plants has been put it as well. Currently crews are working on laying the bricks that will cover the remainder of the square.
Logan said that the work is “moving along quickly and within budget” and is on schedule to be largely completed by the end of April. A dedication event has been planned for April 30 from 5 to 7 p.m. The plan is to have everything except planting the various plants and trees that will line the square finished by then.
Logan also informed both the ARB and City Council that the wrought iron furniture that had previously been in the square would be returned to the square once work had been completed, and in response to a question from Council about it, said that the marker commemorating William Clark’s (of Lewis and Clark) visit to Lexington in 1809 would be “cleaned up and returned” to the square as well.
During her presentation to City Council, Logan thanked the many community partners who have contributed to the project, either by donating money to help fund it or by assisting in other ways, such as researching and verifying information for the historic signs that will be placed in the square.
David Sigler thanked Logan and the other project managers, including project director Jesse Lyons, for their efforts in undertaking the renovation of the square. Lyons was unable to attend the meeting, but Sigler asked Logan to relay his gratitude.
“Trying to change a public space that a lot of people feel ownership of can be difficult, and sometimes there’s people that push back or ask questions,” he said. “I thought Jesse did an excellent job, keeping that positive attitude and just trying to convey the vision for the space as well as he could.”
Chuck Smith, who serves as Council’s liaison on the Main Street Lexington board, said that he was “excited to see the project come to completion.”
“It’s really going to open up that space and really be a welcoming part of downtown that I think is really going to add to foot traffic, vehicle traffic, all of the above,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that addition.”
