Lyon Park Pushes Forward With Plans to Renovate Community House

Lyon Park residents are working hard to make sure what's literally the center of their community is preserved as the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor steadily builds and builds and builds.

By pooling their resources, they are proving progress doesn't have to come at the expense of the past.

Thursday night, community members got a glimpse of the plans for renovating the Lyon Park Community House, situated on a 3-acre park at 414 N. Fillmore St.

“The timing is just about perfect right now for trying to get this project off the ground,” said Ken Bell, head of the Lyon Park Citizens Association Building Committee.

Once the blueprints are given the final nod next week, the property will be surveyed and a drainage plan will be formulated. Then, the building committee can begin getting bids on the actual project.

The restoration aims to preserve the history of the Community House while making the space more accessible. A new sunroom and terrace that opens to the adjacent park will allow people to use the outside space more effectively, said architect Brian Harner of Arlington-based LAB Architecture.

Plans for the new building also include handicap-accessible bathrooms, a galley kitchen and serving counter, a proscenium with a drop-down screen for movie nights and more control over lighting to allow for a more intimate event.

Harner also promised to “eliminate the musty smell from the building.”

The project is set to get fully under way in March and is expected to cost $700,000. So far, $358,000 has been raised.

Bill Anhut, the citizens association treasurer, anticipates raising another $100,000 by the expected start date, since about that much has been raised in the last year.

But that still leaves more than a quarter of the total needed to begin construction.

“Before we put the shovel in the ground, we have to identify the other $250,000,” Anhut said.

The group is looking at financing options and private investment, but is also asking community members to donate at www.lyonpark.info.

Elizabeth Sheehy noted that the building is one of only a few left in the area that is still owned by members of the community.

Sheehy, who sits on the board that governs the community center, gave a brief history of the house and the many groups that have met there since its construction in the 1920s -- including air-raid wardens during World War II.

The facility still sees plenty of use, hosting more than 400 events a year, which accounts for more than 1,000 people per month.

“We can be using this building as an extension of our own homes,” said Sheehy, who had her birthday party at the Community House.

Natalie Roy, immediate past president of the citizens association, called on her friends and neighbors to act just as residents of Lyon Park did decades ago.

“We’re doing what the people did way back in 1925," she said. "They gave money so 80 years later we can still enjoy it.”

This article was edited to reflect the change in association leadership that took place this month.