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Saving a Building, Honoring a Woman By Lisa Willis-Stokes The address includes both 303 and 307 S. Loudoun St., buildings previously used for the last half-century by the Salvation Army as its local headquarters. The Adams-Nelson Companies, the site's developer, is rehabilitating the buildings for use an as office complex. Adams-Nelson bought the property in July 1997 from the Salvation Army for $140,000. In remodeling the older parts of the buildings, it is simply not possible, nor always desirable, to create a faithful reproduction of the originals, says Richard Bell, the project's architect. Thus, Bell is emphasizing rehabilitation - as opposed to restoration - of the buildings, old and new, that make up the complex. "We want to tie in the architectural styles, make it blend and be pleasing," Bell said. Yet dating the buildings, he said, has been a challenge. "The most accurate record we have is from the insurance maps, that it was 1885, but I have had some architects say it was most likely 1876, a 'Centennial building.' It was at the centennial of the country, 1876, that a lot of building was going on." He said the home was originally a residence. The Salvation Army purchased it in the 1930's, and the neighboring property in the 1960's. The sanctuary addition was put on sometime in the late 1940's. As with a renovation of any older building, there have been some surprises. Bell reports not all have been unpleasant. "I have been surprised at the high quality of some of the detail work that we have uncovered," he said. "The floor inlay, when it is refinished, should look great." During a site excavation, an archaeology team with the Department of Historic Resources came out and did a 'dig', discovering things like brass buttons and shards of pottery, some Civil War and some pre-Civil War. They also unearthed an old gun barrel they felt was directly related to the Simon Lauck house. Lauck was a gunsmith. Bell said his company plans to use an old exterior window to create a cabinet in which the artifacts will be displayed in the offices once the building is completed. The corner building, with the addition along Clifford Street, houses 7,000 square feet of space, which can be subdivided into many possible combinations, some with separate entrances, to suit future tenants. The adjacent building, while less than half the space, has a greater feeling of spaciousness, due to the larger proportions of the rooms, and higher ceilings. It retains more of its "homelike" feel, down to the linen closets and built-in drawers in the upstairs hallway. Up a narrow set of stairs is a full, floored attic with excellent views from its dormers that can be used for storage. Yet the property is unique for reasons beyond the structural. The site has a special significance for the whole Adams family, and thus it is particularly fitting that the renovation is being conducted by the Adams-Nelson companies, and that so many relatives are involved with its completion. Fern Adams left a legacy of community involvement that is being honored in bricks and mortar today. Bell is the husband of Fern's daughter, Sarah; Fern's son, Kevin, and her husband, Doug, are the principals of the Nelson-Adams Companies group; and the project manager is Tom Nickel, brother to Kevin Adams' wife, Patricia. For the family, this project is an opportunity not only to work together, but also to contribute to the preservation of something that has a special place in their lives, in the memory of the woman who held a special place in their hearts. Fern Loraine Legge Adams, a native of Canada, and her husband, C. Douglas Adams, moved to the Winchester area from Burke in 1989. She died of lung cancer in May 1994. In the short time Adams was a resident in the community, she made a powerful impact. She dedicated herself to the Salvation Army, where she and her family served Thanksgiving dinners each year; Winchester Medical Center, where she was an emergency room volunteer; and to First Night Winchester, for which she served in numerous volunteer capacities. In addition, she worked to get a city street named Patsy Cline Boulevard and was instrumental in developing a display in honor of the country music star at Winchester's Kurtz Cultural Center. Adams was named Tourism Person of the Year in 1994 for her work with the Chamber of Commerce, and received the Peace and Justice Award from the Coalition of Racial Unity for her work to better race relations in our community. A woman of remarkable energy and spirit, she dedicated herself - and often her family, to their occasional surprise and eventual pleasure - to worthwhile causes. It was in the early 1990's that she got her whole family - her husband and five grown children, with spouses - involved annually with helping to prepare and serve thanksgiving dinners at the Salvation Army building. As a result, the site became a place of many happy memories for the family. In fact, one son chose to be married in the Salvation Army sanctuary in 1992. Not that their involvement is limited to this site; each branch of the family has its own special "mission," from downtown revitalization to AIDS Response Outreach. In the case of this building, Fern Adams' family believes she would be proud.
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