Greater than 1,700 people have signed a petition to stop the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors from tearing down several buildings in Aldie, including the historic Aldie Tavern, currently known as Old Woodburn, only to build a sprawling 20,000 square foot municipal fire station, to serve the fast spreading suburban areas in South Riding and South Dulles.

According to the petition, "The history of this stately home [the Tavern] goes back to Charles Fenton Mercer, the founder of Aldie, who sold the property to William Noland, the mill's second Miller in 1815. In 1848 the property was referred to as a "Tavern" when it was sold to Nathaniel Oden - likely selling whisky from the Aldie Mill's distillery."

On December 8, 2017 the Civil War Trust, which is the country's number one non-profit for the preservation of historic battlegrounds, wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors, which says that the Old Woodburn property borders one of the most important Civil War sites in the country, and that construction would likely encroach upon an irreplaceable historic resource.

For some reason, the County wants to build there even though the property is in a floodplain and not fit for development. The County's architect estimated that the site would require more than $4 million in taxpayer money to move dirt to make the site fit. Plus millions more for demolition and construction of the building that will loom over the scenic byway.

Upset citizens of Aldie and Middleburg are not only afraid that this project will destroy the heart of downtown Aldie, but also worried that it will set the stage for re-zoning rural land and widening Route 50 to a four lane road. That would leave the front door wide open for piling up new houses by the truck-full, the same as we see east of Route 15.

Although the Aldie Tavern is outside of Middleburg proper, we will kiss the clean foyer to our scenic byway goodbye if the County sets that precedent for wrecking history in Aldie.

To sign the petition: go online to www.facebook.com/vincent-4middleburg.

vincent@middleburg.com