The former Lee Community Center on Langston Blvd could remain on ice for up to a decade while county officials decide what to do with it.
County Manager Mark Schwartz’s proposed 10-year capital improvement plan (CIP), released in May, calls for waiting until fiscal year 2035 or 2036 before addressing renovations and future programming at the facility. However, both civic leaders and at least one County Board member are hopeful they can shorten that timeline.
The last county program using the building, LAC Studios, departed in mid-2025 to the Cultural Affairs building on S. Four Mile Run.
An earlier CIP allocated $1.2 million for design and $14.1 million for construction in fiscal 2031-32. Now the placeholder cost has grown to $19.5 million for construction in fiscal year 2035-36.
“By the time we get to eight years, it’s going to be more than $19.5 million,” County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at a June 23 CIP work session between Board members and staff.
Spain is the Board’s liaison to the Langston Boulevard Alliance. At the June 23 meeting, he pressed staff to “talk about what it would take to move that timeline up.”
Schwartz said that before considering timelines, Board members needed to be specific on what future use they want the building to serve.
“We have never received a charge from the Board on what it is you want to have happen to this site,” he said. “There was some discussion but no decision — we would need some clarity.”
Schwartz said he would not recommend deferring any other capital project in order to move the Lee facility higher on the to-do list, although it would be possible to do so.
“If we were asked, we could move things around,” said Adil Chauhan, the acting deputy director of facilities and engineering in the Department of Environmental Services.
Schwartz said addressing the cost of a renovation was just part of the equation. Budget funding would need to be found to address operating costs for any new facilities that are located there.
Spain urged staff to provide options while working within “the art of the possible” at the 2-acre site, which is bounded by Langston Blvd, N. Kentucky Street, N. Lexington Street and 24th Street N.
Attending the work session was Jean Henceroth, president of the Leeway Overlee Civic Association.
In a follow-up letter to Board members, she expressed hope planning could be fast-tracked as much as possible.
“It appears prudent to move this sooner than later to save the building from benign neglect,” Henceroth wrote.
Beyond saving the building, Henceroth pressed for a county commitment to preserve the open space that is part of the parcel:
“It is essential that this publicly owned building and its 2-acre park continue to serve the Arlington community as it has for 100 years. Arlington has a goal to add many acres of green space. Repurposing this acreage away from public open space directly conflicts with that goal.”
As for future programming, Henceroth said the discussion should start at the grassroots level.
“Each of us has our own ideas,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for Arlingtonians to be creative and forward looking.”
Before its use as a community center, the building served as Robert E. Lee Elementary School. The original 1925 structure was augmented by a new eastern wing in 1957.
The school closed in 1971, sat unused for a year and then was converted into a community center. An extensive renovation took place in 2000.
Last year, county officials partnered with the architectural firm CGS, which developed three conceptual designs for future use and possible expansion of the building.
CGS’s 2025 report included price tags in current dollars for the three options for future use:
- Upgrading the building to meet modern code and accessibility standards, estimated to cost $6.2 million
- Removing the 1957 wing, upgrading the original building and making select additions, estimated to cost between $10.9 million and $15.1 million
- Razing existing facilities and building an entirely new facility, estimated to cost $26.9 million to $58.5 million
Past county proposals to raze the existing structure met with community outcry, causing local leaders to back away from the idea.
“Local support for maintaining and remodeling the existing building is quite strong, including former students who fondly remember their school days there,” historian Tom Dickinson said in a retrospective on the building for the Arlington Historical Society.
Henceroth said she is hopeful that the county government will remain committed to retaining at least the 1920s-era building.
“Members of Leeway Overlee Civic Association and neighboring communities frequently ask me about Lee Center’s future,” she wrote to Board members. “My response is ‘it’s still standing and the county is not planning to demolish it.’ After your discussion, I believe this continues to be true.”
