A civic association is pushing to prevent a century-old former schoolhouse from being demolished to make way for an affordable housing project near Crystal City.
The historical significance of the Nelly Custis School, which stands on the Melwood property in Aurora Highlands, is slated for discussion at a Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) meeting tonight.
Melwood, the nonprofit that currently owns the building, is proposing to tear it down in order to construct a 104-unit affordable housing building at 750 23rd Street S. Opposing this plan is the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, which characterizes the structure as “an important part of the life of our community going back to its construction over a century ago.”
Built in 1923, the building contributes to the Aurora Highlands National Register District and played a role in the desegregation of Arlington County schools, per county presentation documents. The school closed in 1979, but Melwood continues to use the building for job training and placement for people with disabilities.
The AHCA argues that the structure should remain standing as part of a smaller-scale development project.
Presentation documents say the building’s “architectural integrity has been compromised via extensive alterations and additions,” while noting that it “could serve as a reminder of the community’s development history.”
“Arlington has preserved little of its historical daily use building such as this school,” the civic association said in a letter to the HALRB. “With appropriate adaptive reuse, we have an opportunity to not only preserve a tangible link to our past, but, to show how reuse can benefit the community — a great model for the future and a vital part of Arlington’s commitment to sustainability.”
Tonight, the HALRB is slated to consider a historic preservation nomination for the Nelly Custis School and decide whether to request further study of the property.
Preservationists undertook a similar attempt several years ago to stop the Rouse estate from being demolished and replaced with 40 single-family homes in Dominion Hills. Though the HALRB recommended historic status, the estate’s century-plus-old home was demolished in March 2021, before historic protections could be considered by the County Board.
