HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL PR 2010-06-24 Design Awards
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Betsy Fields
Research & Communications Manager
bfields@leesburgva.gov
703-771-2734
Leesburg Projects Honored at 6th Annual “Signatures of
Loudoun” Design Excellence Awards
Leesburg, VA (June 24, 2010) – Five Leesburg projects, three private and two public, were
honored by the Loudoun County Design Cabinet in the 6th annual “Signatures of Loudoun”
Design Excellence Awards at the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday,
June 14, 2010.
The transformation of the former
Arthur’s Shoe Repair building at 17
North King Street into Shoe’s Cup & Cork
Club was recognized in the “Makeovers”
category. In the process of converting
the building into a coffee shop, owners
Ed Shihadeh and Richard Ellis retained
many of the original features of the
building, including a wall-mounted
ladder and the iconic “Red Goose Shoes”
neon sign. The neon sign itself received
a “Signatures of Loudoun” design award
in the “Details” category in 2005. In their
remarks following the award, Ed &
Richard emphasized the importance that they placed on respecting the building’s past with the
renovation. They also related how their discovery of a pair of women’s shoes with a repair tag
dated February 1928 became the inspiration for the shop’s shoe-themed chandelier.
The statue of George C. Marshall at Dodona Manor was recognized in the “Details” category.
The nomination noted that although he is best known for his military career, for most of his
time as a Leesburg resident, George C. Marshall was a civilian, having left active duty in 1945 at
the conclusion of World War II. Fittingly, the statue of Marshall that greets visitors to Dodona
Manor from the house’s East Market Street pedestrian entrance shows Marshall in civilian
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clothes, not a military uniform, reminding
visitors that Dodona Manor was first and
foremost his home. Even though the
statue has only been in place a few years, it
has already become a recognizable symbol
of Leesburg, and the role that the Town
played on the world’s stage during and
after World War II. On accepting the
award, Stephen Price, chairman of the
George C. Marshall International Center
board, drew a connection between the
winner in the Makeovers category, Shoe’s
Cup & Cork Club, and George C. Marshall.
During the renovation of Shoe’s, a worker
found a letter handwritten by General Marshall to Arthur Varoujanian, owner of Arthur’s Shoe
Repair, thanking him for the invitation to join the local branch of the American Legion. Marshall
declined, stating that he was already a member of the American Legion post in his hometown
of Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The letter was donated to the George C. Marshall International
Center.
The South King Street Center,
located on South King Street just
inside the Route 7/15 Bypass, was
recognized in the “Familiar”
category. The award nomination
cited the center as a welcome
alternative to the typical
“Anywhere USA” strip retail
center. The Design Cabinet
agreed, noting that the multiple
buildings, with details like
standing-seam metal roofs and
exterior finishes using traditional
materials, are scaled appropriately to the site and fit seamlessly into the fabric of the built
environment. Doug Brewer, with W.A. Brown Architects, the architect of the project, thanked
owner and developer Tom Chamberlin for giving him the freedom to be creative with the
project and trusting him to produce a quality design.
In addition to these three private development projects, two Town of Leesburg projects, one
completed in 2009 and the other built more than 20 years ago, were the recipients of awards.
Ida Lee Park Recreation Center and A.V. Symington Aquatic Center, which opened in May
2009, was honored in the “Mixing Places” category and Foxridge Park was selected in the
“Details” category.
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Originally submitted as two separate
nominations, the Design Cabinet combined
Ida Lee Park Recreation Center and the A.V.
Symington Aquatic Center into a single
award, noting the way the two facilities work
as a whole, blending into the natural setting
of Ida Lee Park. A.V. Symington Aquatic
Center architects Andrew Jinks, with Smolen
• Emr + Associates, and Dave Almy, with
Almy Architects, described the design
process as a collaboration between their
firms and Town of Leesburg staff. They
noted that some of the most striking natural
features of the center, the rock outcroppings, were the result of on-the-spot design changes
made in response to site conditions. They particularly lauded Parks & Recreation Assistant
Director Bill Ference for his landscaping design work at the Aquatic Center.
Constructed in the late 1980s, the
Foxridge neighborhood was one of the
first cluster developments approved in
the Town, which preserve open space
by clustering houses on smaller lots. As
part of that development, the land for
Foxridge Park was conveyed to the
Town and the park, including the
ballfield and the picnic shelter, was
constructed as a Town capital project.
The design award nomination noted
that much of the open space of the park
is actually a stormwater detention facility and praised the Town for turning what could have
been an eyesore and an aesthetic liability into an attractive, visually cohesive element within
the urban landscape.
The Loudoun County Design Cabinet created the “Signatures of Loudoun” Design Excellence
Program in 2005 to recognize the buildings, interiors, places and details that, together, make
the County unlike any other. The Cabinet, formed in 2004 in partnership with the Loudoun
County Department of Economic Development, is comprised of professional architects,
planners and engineers who volunteer their time with the mission of encouraging the highest
quality built environment to complement Loudoun County’s natural beauty, and to reinforce
the County’s distinct sense of place, identity and community. For more information about the
Loudoun County Design Cabinet and the “Signatures of Loudoun” Design Excellence Awards,
please visit http://biz.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=121.
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