Historic City Home Owners Join Plea To VMI

Dec. 26, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: We the owners of historic homes on White Street and Jordan Street in downtown Lexington are saddened by the prospect of losing two historic homes on Letcher Avenue. Known historically as Blair House (c. 1870) and Archer House (c. 1881), the buildings are set to be demolished to make way for a new and significantly larger alumni hall. To do so would completely overwhelm the historic houses on the other side of Letcher Avenue Lexington has lost too many historic buildings over the years, including many on VMI’s post. Visitors come to Lexington because of our history and historic architecture. We purchased our homes on White and Jordan for this very reason.

We join Historic Lexington Foundation, the Architectural Review Board, and many Lexington residents, past and present, to deplore the planned demolition of these historic properties and ask Virginia Military Institute to be good citizens of our remarkable city and retain these homes.

ARTHUR BARTENSTEIN ANDREW and JANET SIMON DEBORAH POLLARD Editor’s note: This letter was also signed by 13 other residents of those two streets.