Renovation and Rebuilding:
Waterford's Historic Old School
Old School "Raise the Roof" Campaign
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On January 25, 2007, an early morning blaze extensively damaged
the iconic structure known as the Old School in the village of
Waterford. The Loudoun County Fire Department ruled the fire to
be accidental, starting in the basement of the auditorium, in or
near the propane furnace.
Fire companies from many Loudoun County (and even some Maryland)
jurisdictions battled to extinguish the three-alarm blaze and save
the classroom portion of the wooden structure. The auditorium was
a total loss.
Waterford Old School Auditorium construction begins
About 50 residents and visitors joined Waterford Foundation Staff, Loudoun County Supervisors, Boy Scout Troop 969, the Hamilton Fire Department, and Scott-Long Construction staff for the groundbreaking ceremony on the Old School Auditorium, which will replace the structure destroyed by fire in January 2007.
 History
The Old School, constructed in 1910 as one of Loudoun County’s
earliest public schools, sits on five acres at the northeastern
entry point to the village of Waterford. It replaced the Waterford
Academy, an 1880 structure that burned down. The Waterford Foundation
purchased the property from the Loudoun County School Board in
1966.
The destroyed auditorium and the connecting hyphen to the classrooms
were built in 1928. Concerts, town meetings, political debates,
wedding receptions, Waterford Fair exhibits, and celebrations are
among the many community events that have taken place in the auditorium
and classrooms over the past 40 years.
 From the Ashes
In February 2007 the Board of Directors passed a motion to restore
the classroom building and rebuild the auditorium “in a way
that is respectful of its history and place in the community.” A
special task force of Foundation members was created to achieve
this goal.
The task force immediately focused on pulling together the resources
necessary to reconstruct and rehabilitate the building to the highest
standards of historic preservation and to meet community goals
of broad functionality. The Foundation is determined to return
to the community a new Old School that will become a treasured
as well as functional asset for the next 100 years, as it has been
for the last. Our rebuilding efforts are critical to the vitality
and viability of this National Historic Landmark District.
Renovation and repairs to the old classroom building, begun in
spring 2008, are nearly complete. The Foundation engaged the prominent
firm Quinn Evans Architects, well-known for its award-winning work
on historic structures, to design a replacement auditorium.
The firm’s proposed design has been shaped substantially
by local citizens’ input, and after public meetings and many
iterations, the auditorium design was approved in October 2008
by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and Loudoun County’s
Historic District Review Committee. Now the plan must move through
zoning and permitting processes.
As a new building, the replacement auditorium will meet modern
building code requirements, including handicapped access and parking,
and a sprinkler system. Insurance reimbursement will pay for what
was there before, but the Foundation must cover a significant shortfall
between the reimbursements and what is required to complete the
improvements for the auditorium.
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