Turning to art, Gertrude Evans continues her vigil for civil rights
Loudouner, Fall 2017
Tag: downtown
Supervisors punt on Confederate statue control
The Loudoun Board of Supervisors will not seek authority from the Virginia General Assembly in January to move or remove a statue of a Confederate soldier that stands in front of the county courthouse.
On Wednesday, the supervisors narrowly defeated a motion by Board Chair Phyllis J. Randall (D-At Large) to request that the General Assembly amend state law to give the county discretion over the bronze statue, which was erected in 1908. Under state law, Virginia localities are not permitted to “disturb or interfere with” war memorials.
The Washington Post, Sept. 22, 2017
Loudoun Museum is straightening out finances
One year after the Loudoun Museum faced the possibility of having to close because of the potential loss of county funding, museum officials say they have taken the necessary first steps to straighten out the organization’s finances.
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors directed the museum’s trustees to make fundraising a top priority, officials said. So in May, the trustees hired Leslie Mazeska, who has a professional background in fundraising and grant-writing for nonprofit organizations, as the museum’s executive director.
The Washington Post, July 30, 2017
Leesburg Vintner withstands competition
Although Leesburg Vintner was closed Monday, owner Mike Carroll was working in his shop while a ribbon-cutting for Delirium Cafe was taking place across the street.
“I think it’s going to be a game-changer,” Carroll said as he peered through the blinds at the growing crowd outside the cafe, a franchisee of a popular Belgian beer company. “It’s created a buzz unlike anything I’ve seen since I’ve been here.”
Carroll has been selling bottled wines at the northwest corner of King and Loudoun streets in Leesburg for almost three decades. During that time, he has withstood increasing competition from big box stores and local wineries.
The Washington Post, May 21, 2017
B. Doughnut is drawing crowds
The line outside B. Doughnut is already starting to form at eight o’clock Saturday morning, even though it won’t open for another hour. Some of the customers sit in chairs outside the shop on Loudoun Street in downtown Leesburg, reading a book or swiping at their phones to pass the time.
By 9 a.m., when the door opens, the line has grown to more than 40 people. Greeted by the mingled aromas of roasted coffee and fried dough, the customers begin placing orders for doughnuts with their favorite fillings and toppings — vanilla bean, lemon curd, cinnamon sugar.
The Washington Post, March 5, 2017
Dancing for fun
As the holidays were winding down, about a dozen people showed up at Dance King Studios in downtown Leesburg on Monday evening to socialize and learn some new moves.
They stood along the mango-colored walls as owner Adam King demonstrated the Argentine tango. Then they moved hesitantly onto the dance floor, some staring at their feet as they practiced the steps.
As the evening wore on, the dancers grew more relaxed, buoyed by King’s infectious smile and words of encouragement. Before long, they were laughing and moving more confidently to the music’s rhythms.
The Washington Post, Jan. 8, 2017
Piano Company is thriving downtown
Transporting more than 100 pianos across town last spring, from Battlefield Shopping Center to Market Street in downtown Leesburg, was no easy task. In fact, Robert Purdon, general manager of the Piano Company, described the move as “a logistical nightmare.”
But after 16 years at the store’s previous site, Purdon is happy with the shift to the current location, near the Loudoun County Government Center.
Washington Post, Jan. 1, 2017
Exit Plan: Leesburg’s Escape Room
The intrigue plays out several days a week in a studio apartment in downtown Leesburg, accessible only through a small parking lot and up a steep flight of stairs. It is a “safe house” for a spy — a Russian agent now cooperating with the U.S. government.
Across the hall, several wayward students are hatching a plot to escape detention from a classroom with furnishings straight from the 1980s.
The safe house and the classroom — in a suite of rooms above MacDowell Brew Kitchen — are not real. Nor are the scenes that unfold there. They are the “escape rooms” run by Exit Plan, a locally owned business that creates puzzle-filled adventure games for groups of people to solve.
Washington Post, August 28, 2016
Museum gets one more chance
The Loudoun Museum has been given one last chance to get its financial house in order.
The Board of Supervisors on July 21 approved an agreement with the museum that will provide $156,000 in funding to keep it operating through June, by a 7-1-1 vote. Ron A. Meyer (R-Broad Run) opposed the plan, and Tony R. Buffington Jr. (R-Blue Ridge) was absent.
The agreement spells out quarterly milestones the museum must meet to receive the funds, and requires each member of the museum’s board of trustees to contribute or raise at least $3,000 annually.
Washington Post, July 31, 2016
New mural for Leesburg garage
With the help of some local high school students, Leesburg artist Kevin Dunn is adding a splash of color to one of the drab gray walls of Leesburg’s downtown parking garage.
Last weekend, several art students from Tuscarora and Heritage high schools joined Dunn in painting a bicycle-themed mural he designed to serve as a backdrop to some bike racks inside the garage. Dunn and other proponents of bringing art to public places hope the project will revive interest in creating a larger mural on an exterior wall of the garage.
Washington Post, June 19, 2016