Architectural Review Board

TO: Members of the Architectural Review Board City of Fredericksburg RE: COA FY23-0032 St. George’s Episcopal Church 901 Princess Anne Street DATE: February 13, 2023 I am Craig Rains. I live at 204 Fairway Drive, Locust Grove, VA 22508. I have been an active member of St. George’s Episcopal Church for more than 20 years. Along with our spiritual charges, I believe it is our duty as members of St. George’s to be caretakers of the historic facilities and graveyard for which we have been entrusted. A sign installed over a hundred years ago at the gate to our graveyard reads: “THE FOUNDERS OF FREDERICKSBURG SLEEP HERE. 1732. A.P.V.A.” I am opposed to building a ramp across the church graveyard, which is one of the city’s oldest cemeteries. As proposed, it would require (1) tearing out a large piece of the historic 1890s fence at the sidewalk, (2) destroying a piece of historic art and (3) knocking out a section of the wall of the historic church building.. Signi cantly, this proposed ramp plan would run directly over one of the most important gravesites — and the oldest for which we have a record — that of John Jones, recorded in 1752. If this is approved, that site would be lost forever. It is sad to see this destruction at a time when we read about cemeteries being restored and preserved, like the one in Henrico County reported recently in the Free Lance-Star that had a sign reading “May they never be forgotten.” Or the preservation of one fi  Page 2 Architectural Review Board February 13, 2023 last month in Bowie, Maryland or the Georgetown cemetery, both reported recently in the Washington Post. I am opposed to knocking a hole in a wall of the historic 1849 church building to insert a door. I am opposed to destroying a stained glass window that is one of a set of four windows installed in 1908-1909. The proposed plan shows the window being hacked in two with the wall below it being removed for the door to the cemetery ramp. The building already has two handicap-accessible ADA- compliant doors that provide access to the building and to the lift. These doors are 10 feet from the sidewalk on the George Street side. To address the slope issue, there could be two Sunday-only accessible parking spaces reserved at those doors and a “greeter” could be stationed to assist, as is done now at the main entrance door to the narthex. Presently, no breech of façades or side walls are visible from the street on any of the six historic church buildings in downtown Fredericksburg (Fredericksburg Baptist, Fredericksburg United Methodist, Presbyterian Church, Shiloh (New Site), Shiloh (Old Site), St. George’s). I hope that this will continue. Thank you for your consideration. Craig Rains 204 Fairway Dr Locust Grove, VA 22508 Email: craig.rains@att.net Cell/Text: (540) 903-2106