public space

After a week-long visit from officials, it looks like the National Park Service may set up station at Fort Monroe.

A week-old ban on public displays at Loudoun County Courthouse has been reversed due to protests from residents, according to the Washington Post.

The ban would have prevented the Nativity scene and Christmas trees that have decorated the courthouse lawn for decades, in efforts to protect the century-old building from any attacks that might fall on the religious holiday decorations.

"Bowing to an outpouring of protests from residents, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors reversed a week-old rule Tuesday that had banned public displays, including Nativity scenes and Christmas trees, at the county courthouse.

Supervisors voted 7 to 1 to allow community groups 'equal access' to the courthouse grounds. The supervisor who voted to keep the ban, James Burton (I-Blue Ridge), said he feared that extremist groups would turn the century-old courthouse in downtown Leesburg into a 'public circus.'

Dozens of residents carrying signs and wearing Christmas red showed up at a county meeting Monday night to protest the rule, saying that it would ruin the county's holiday parade, set for Dec. 12. A decorated Christmas tree and a Nativity scene have been seasonal fixtures on the courthouse lawn for decades.

More than 1,000 people signed a petition against the policy, and several members of the Leesburg Town Council, including the mayor, voiced opposition to it.

A resident-led county committee that handles issues related to Loudoun grounds and facilities voted unanimously last week to bar any structures, religious or otherwise, from the lawn of the courthouse, citing the increasing number of requests by residents to use it as a public meeting space."

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According to the News & Advance, Campbell County residents might be one step closer to seeing the completion a new community facility that will include a library.

"Organizers for the Timberlake Community Complex say the project could be a few steps closer to fruition if $350,000 in federal money comes through as proposed.

The money was included in a transportation and housing appropriations bill that passed the house Thursday, Rep. Tom Perriello D-5th District, said in a news release. A similar measure still needs to pass the Senate and reconcile in committee.

The federal money would be the second-largest single funding source for the project, which is estimated to cost around $3 million for the first phase that will house the Timbrook Library.

It’s in addition to the more than $400,000 promised in corporate donations, and Campbell County already has pledged around $700,000 to go toward loan payments, said Charles Falwell, chairman of the Board of Supervisors."

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The Chesterfield Observer reported some exciting news about Mid-Lothian Mines Park, which is located off Woolridge Road between the Grove and Walton Park subdivisions. Currently visitors enjoy using the park for walking, and jogging, dog-walking. However, the park is also home to the Grove Shaft ruins, the remnants of one of four mine shafts installed by the Wooldridge family's Mid-Lothian Coal Mining Company, a prominent mining company during the mid- 1800s.

The plans include fortifying the deteriorating ruins; add a historically accurate 16-foot elevated observation tower next to the Grove Shaft; and enhancing the educational aspect of the park.

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