December 12 — 18, 2019
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • V ol. XXIX No. 43
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week School Board Mulls Pre-Labor Day Start
A pre-Labor Day start to the school year was the most-supported option of those laid out in a 20202021 Calendar Survey by the Falls Church School Board. The option starts school on Aug. 24, includes a two-week winter break, and ends school on June 10. See News Briefs, page 9
‘Santamobile’ Tours Begin Sunday
West End Plan’s Architectural Look Draws Mixed Reviews from Council Also, Scooter Vote Tabled Until After The New Year by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The annual tradition returns as the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department decorates the reserve engine and escorts Santa Claus through the streets of the Falls Church area starting this Sunday. See News Briefs, page 9
Council Passes LGBTQ, Gender Protections
The Falls Church City Council approved a measure Monday that outlaws discrimination based on “sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status.” See News Briefs, page 9
Press Pass with Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried takes the stage at the State Theatre this Saturday with the same abandon he’s been defined by throughout his nearly 50 year career. See page 25
Index
Editorial................6 Letters..................6 News & Notes.12,13 Comment.... 14,15 Business News.19 School News.... 21
Calendar..... 26,27 Classified Ads... 28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword........ 29 Crime Report.... 30 Critter Corner.... 30
A GROUP OF SOLDIERS huddle outside the Falls Church, used as a Union hospital during the Civil War, sometime between 1861 and 1865. The church is celebrating the 250th anniversary of its historic building, shown here, first opened on Dec. 20, 1769. (Photo: Library of Congress)
Historic Falls Church Episcopal Celebrates 250 Years Sunday by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
The congregation of the City of Falls Church’s iconic, living historical monument, the Falls Church Episcopal Church, will celebrate the church’s 250th anniversary at a series of special events at the church site in the center of the City this Sunday. The original church was opened in 1734 and the existing historic church building, since renovated and still fully functional, now one of the oldest church buildings in the
U.S., was opened on Dec. 20, 1769, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution, under the leadership of George Washington and George Mason among others. Mason was elected a vestryman of the Falls Church in 1745 and Washington in 1762. In a proclamation signed by current Falls Church Mayor David Tarter at this Monday’s City Council meeting, it is noted that the Declaration of Independence was read to the public from the steps of the church in 1776 and the church served as a recruiting location
during the Revolutionary War. During the Civil War, the building served as a stable and a hospital for soldiers of both armies, and the church’s graveyard is the final resting place of many prominent area citizens over the years, as well as soldiers from both sides in the Civil War, including John Read, a Union soldier who, because he educated AfricanAmerican youth in the area, was singled out by troops from the Confederacy for capture and hanging.
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EYA, Hoffman and Regency, co-developers of the City of Falls Church’s massive 9.7-acre West End Gateway Project, presented some visuals to a joint work session of the Falls Church City Council, Planning Commission and Economic Development Authority on the kind of architecture they’re currently considering for seven buildings of their project, and the reviews were mixed. As the Council moved to table action on scooters in Falls Church, the Gateway project’s architectural design issue became the highlight of Monday’s Council meeting, along with a review of a proposed West End Small Area Plan and a novel ordinance to sidestep the Virginia Dillon Rule to offer protections for persons based on LGBTQ and gender identity (see News Briefs, page 9). The images displaying a warehouse traditional look for the Gateway project were met with less than overwhelming enthusiasm by the representatives of the three groups in the session, held in the middle of Monday’s Council business meeting. The color scheme presented was a mix of soft grey, brown, white, red and yellow. “Everything is square, is there no arch?,” quipped Vice Mayor Marybeth Connelly as a typical response. While some expressed appreciation for the designs, others deferred saying they are subject to individual aesthetic tastes, with
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