History Lecture: Red Brick House at WTA’s Gateway in Waynesboro

What: History Lecture: Red Brick House
When: Thursday, May 15 at 7:00pm
Where: 329 W. Main St., Waynesboro, Va
Tickets: Admission is Free ($5 suggested donation)

Those interested in local history and curious about the fate of the 1820 Arnold House, recently dubbed the Red Brick House by its supporters, should mark their calendars for a special presentation on May 15 at the Wayne Theatre Alliance’s Gateway, 329 West Main Street in Downtown Waynesboro, at 7pm.

The Red Brick House, Waynesboro’s first school house, currently owned by the City, was in disrepair and fighting for its life in early 2013 when the Waynesboro Historic Commission registered its opinion that preservation was preferable to demolition. In response, the city granted the house a welcome reprieve to allow consideration of the possibilities. During this time, a group of interested citizens rallied around the motto “Save the Red Brick House.” A year later, the House still stands. The citizen group, now incorporated as Red Brick House, Inc., is working with the city to take ownership of the house with a view to stabilizing its current condition against further deterioration. This will allow time for the fundraising and preservation efforts necessary to restore the house for its next incarnation as it approaches its 200th birthday.

The May 15th presentation will include discussions of local historic preservation, the history of the house and its times, and the architecture of and challenges facing the House. The featured speakers will be David Geiger, Chairman of the Waynesboro Historic Commission; Nancy Sorrells of the Augusta County Historical Society,  a well-known independent scholar and freelance writer here in the Shenandoah Valley; and Susan Lancaster, who has been engaged in historic building rehabilitation for the last 15 years with Frazier Associates in Staunton.

This presentation is part of a series of monthly history lectures which are a joint project of the Waynesboro Heritage Foundation and the Wayne Theatre Alliance supported by a grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. The Gateway doors will open at 6:30pm. There is no admission fee, but donations of at least $5 are suggested. Space is limited to the first 100 people.