VMI Project Plans Raise ARB Concerns

The proposed demolition of two historic homes on the VMI campus was the subject of some discussion among members of the Lexington Architecture Review Board its most recent meeting on Nov. 7.

While the board doesn’t have authority to deny or halt the demolition, they agreed to draft a letter to send to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources expressing their displeasure with the potential loss of the two historic homes.

Currently named Cabell and Neikrik halls, the two homes located on Letcher Avenue just inside the entrance to the campus are part of what is known as the Letcher Hyphen, a small row of houses on both sides of the street that serve as a sort of transition between the city – and the neighboring Washington and Lee University Campus – onto the more monolithic campus of the institute.

Originally known as the Archer House and the Blair House, respectively, the homes were built in the late 1800s, with Cabell being built in the 1880s and Neikirk being constructed a decade earlier.

Their demolition is part of a proposed project to build a new center for advancement on the site of Moody Hall, which will also be demolished for the project. Construction is currently slated to begin in winter of 2025, with the building being completed by the end of 2027, though that schedule is subject to change.

ARB member Barbara Crawford noted that the school had a history of moving historic homes rather than demolishing them and cited the 1914 moving of the superintendent’s house and two other buildings when the parade grounds were being renovated as a specific example. She also criticized the institute for “obliterating” history from these homes by changing their names.

“There are other very important historic buildings on VMI’s property, and if they’re allowed to do this, I’m worried about the others,” she said. “I think this is such an important battle to fight, not just for VMI or Lexington, but for the whole county … This is our past. This is who we are.”

City planner Arne Glaeser shared two other letters on the proposed demolition of Cabell and Neikirk halls with the ARB. The first was a letter dated July 22 and written by Historic Lexington Foundation President Dee Joyce-Hayes to the DHR which cited the Letcher Hyphen as “one of the most memorable aspects of the VMI post.”

“The scale and varied period architecture of its houses convey the sense of an authentic uninterrupted history, with the passage of time made palpable by the progression of architectural period styles,” she wrote. “As an introduction to the vast space of the Parade Grounds it ‘sets the stage’ for the transition to a much more monumental and uniform landscape of buildings.”

The second letter was written by Roger Kirchen, the director for the Review and Compliance Division of the DHR, to Aaron T. Gorah, the senior project manager for the VMI Construction Office. In the letter, which was dated Sept. 18, Kirchen shared the findings of an “intensive-level architecture survey” conducted of the Cabell, Moody and Neikirk halls conducted by Glavé & Holmes Architecture on behalf of the institute.

The survey found that while Cabell and Neikirk halls weren’t “individually eligible for listing” with the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places, both were recommended to be a “contributing resource” within the VMI and Lexington historic districts. Moody Hall was also not eligible for listing with the VLR or NRHP, and was not considered a contributing resource to the historic districts due to being constructed “outside the period of significance, which is 1816 to 1953.”

As a result of their status as contributions to the historic district, Kirchen added, both Cabell and Neikirk “meet the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation,” and that the demolition of both buildings “is considered an adverse impact” to the VMI and Lexington historic districts. He recommended that “minimization efforts and mitigation” be “memorialized” in a memorandum of understanding between the DHR and the institute.

Glaeser noted to the ARB that the DHR is only a recommending agency and does not have sway over whether the buildings are torn down.

A draft letter will be presented to the ARB for final approval at its next meeting. -The VMI Alumni Agencies posted a story about the new construction project on its website earlier this fall.

According to the story, VMI’s new center for advancement, which will include an alumni center, will be a three-level, 50,000-squarefoot facility and come with a projected cost of $68 million.

“The idea for the new building was hatched several years ago, as it became evident that a growing alumni base and the increasing demands to support on-post activities meant the current infrastructure needed a major upgrade,” according to the story. “The Agencies and VMI considered various options, including a renovation of Moody Hall, but none of them offered a workable solution. The decision, therefore, was made to replace the current structures with a single structure to support the important missions of both the Institute and the VMI Alumni Agencies: academics, engagement, and philanthropy.”

The project, the story noted, requires the demolition of the Cabell House, currently used by the athletic director, and Neikirk Hall, which has housed the VMI Alumni Agencies, VMI Foundation and VMI Keydet Club offices since the late 1990s.

“While the disappearance of familiar buildings can be bittersweet, it has frequently happened on post,” according to the story.