The Great Falls Grange — an assembly hall built in the 1929 as a result of the Grange Movement — is paving the way for a new future.
Through a public-private partnership agreement with the Fairfax County Park Authority, the Great Falls Grange Foundation will operate and maintain the historic property, which will serve as a community meeting place, a hub for classes and activities and a venue for public and private events.
The Grange is currently the last standing unchanged grange hall in Virginia. It is listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places.
The park authority and the foundation are expected to ratify an agreement on Saturday (March 12) at 1 p.m.
Jorge Adeler, a prominent local businessman and community fixture, pitched the idea nearly a decade ago, according to FCPA.
Adeler asked Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust to help him make the Grange a community gathering pace.
“Since then, Jorge and many other local leaders have worked patiently to address and resolve several obstacles that were encountered. It is a tribute to their passion for their community that, with the wonderful support of the Park Authority, they have now achieved their goal. I am very pleased for them and I am certain that the Grange Foundation will be an excellent steward of these awesome historic properties,” Foust wrote in a statement.
Adeler, co-president of the foundation, said he was grateful that Great Falls will have a gathering place for the community.
“This effort has truly been for the ‘Love of Great Falls,'” he said.
The Grange Hall, which has two levels, has space for up to 200 guests. Built in 1889, the historic schoolhouse has capacity for 49 people. The outdoor pavilion can seat up to 40 guests.
The county hopes to use the public-private partnership as a model for future collaborations. The hall will eventually become a self-supporting community center for Great Falls.
Plans call for improvements to the building and new landscaping. The parking lot will also be refreshed with new gravel and more lighting.
The first Grange was founded in 1869 in New York. After membership declined and dairy farms shifted to suburban development, the Grange and its grounds were sold to FCPA in 1981.
Photo via FCPA
Recent Stories
Good Friday evening, Fairfax County. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar. đź•— News recap The following articles were published earlier…
For this year’s Independent Bookstore Day, local bookworms will be encouraged to collect not just new literary titles, but also places to buy them. More than a dozen shops across…
The Oakton driver behind a 2022 crash that killed two teenagers has been sentenced to four years in prison. Earlier this week, 20-year-old Usman Shahid was convicted of two counts of…
RELAC Water Cooling will begin delivering air-conditioning services to residents and businesses in Reston’s Lake Anne area this weekend — ahead of its official launch date of May 22. The…
The Gillion Academy’s Home School Basketball Program begins Fall 2024 for 7th – 12th Grade student-athletes to complete their online academic studies in a supervised and focused setting while receiving elite training from our professional basketball trainers at The Gillion Basketball Academy, a state of the art training facility in Springfield, Va. We have developed over 200 college athletes and placed over 50 players in the NBA and pro leagues overseas and provide the same level of training for our student-athletes.
We will have a virtual Open House Zoom on May 6th at 7:30PM so please go to our website to learn more about us and to fill out an interest form and register for the event and learn about the top training facility in the DMV area.
Any questions please email our Director at philip.budwick@gil-lionbasketballacademy.com.
For many remote workers, a messy home is distracting.
You’re getting pulled into meetings, and your unread emails keep ticking up. But you can’t focus because pet hair tumbleweeds keep floating across the floor, your desk has a fine layer of dust and you keep your video off in meetings so no one sees the chaos behind you.
It’s no secret a dirty home is distracting and even adds stress to your life. And who has the energy to clean after work? That’s why it’s smart to enlist the help of professionals, like Well-Paid Maids.
Pedal with Petals Family Bike Ride
Join us on Saturday, May 11th and ride into spring during our Pedal with Petals Family Bike Ride. Back for its second year, Pedal with Petals is going to be bigger than ever. This year’s event will include both an
Encore Creativity for Older Adults at Capital One Hall
Encore Creativity for Older Adults is pleased to raise the curtain and welcome community members to its spring concert at Capital One Hall in Tysons, VA on May 4, 2024. The concert, which starts at 3 PM, will bring hundreds
