Comments At Arlington County Board Meeting, June 17, 2026.
I recently received an eblast from former Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg entitled “Trump and the Weeping Willows,” denouncing him for chopping down the trees that graced the Kennedy Center terrace overlooking the Potomac River. In it she described how dignitaries from all over the world had sent gifts to the Kennedy Center in tribute to the fallen president. The weeping willows soared above all other tributes not only for their aesthetic value but as symbols of the nation’s inconsolable grief. Yet now at the whim of a vindictive president, they’re gone.
Nevertheless the Kennedy Center still stands, and the trees on the terrace will someday be replaced. Not so, the many historic properties demolished on this side of the Potomac. Sadly Arlington never saw an historic property it didn’t want to demolish, just as it never saw a park it didn’t want to pave over.
In 2017 it tore down the Wilson School, one of two remaining historic school buildings constructed by prominent 19th century architect Charles M. Robinson, to shoehorn a fire station, more parking and more mixed use development into an already congested neighborhood. The result is anything but aesthetic.
In 2021 the County permitted demolition of the Civil War era Rouse estate and its replacement with a stable of cookie cutter McMansions on Wilson Blvd. This abomination was followed shortly thereafter by razing the Victorian era Fellows-McGrath “Memory” house on Washington Blvd. for more cookie cutter McMansions. To suppose that the Nellie Custis School could somehow survive the demolition derby on this side of the Potomac is strictly delusional.
Yet in a 2024 letter to HALRB, Stacy Meyer, President of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, described “Nellie Custis School [as] a notable central element anchoring the historic Aurora Highlands neighborhood. . . [and] there is still much to learn about this building its history and role in the development of Arlington.” As a career historic preservation architect, Stacy’s opinion carries weight.
Although denial of the public’s right to preserve its heritage holds sway on both sides of the Potomac, there’s a revolt brewing in the hustings. The people of Gettysburg [who successfully opposed demolition of Confederate monuments on Seminary Ridge] didn’t want their heritage destroyed in the name of “woke”. Someday Arlington will oppose destruction of its own heritage in the name of so-called “affordable housing”.