Is Removing VMI Houses ‘The Right Thing To Do?’

Nov. 25, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I am questioning the removal of the two houses on Letcher Avenue by VMI.

I selfishly want the houses to remain standing because I was a former resident of the Blair House, as were many professors’ families. We have fond memories of the house. What a shame to remove these town houses.

Tourism is an important piece in the puzzle of Lexington. A tourist arrives at the Visitor Center and walks to W&L and then on to VMI. On that walk, these two houses have a prominent place at the entrance gate at VMI. Visitors don’t walk to Lee Avenue or Jackson Avenue to see the structures that distinguish our town. But they do see these magnificent houses.

Both the Blair House and the Archer House next door are listed in “The Architecture of Historic Lexington” by Royster Lyle and Pam Simpson. Assuming there are no restrictions on the houses, VMI has every right to remove the Blair House and the Archer House, but is this the right thing to do?

ALICE WILLIAMS Past director of the Rockbridge Historical Society