By Jordan Hoover
After being denied a state grant, Main Street Lexington is searching for $620,000 to fund planned renovations of the courthouse square, Lexington City Manager Tom Carroll said.
Main Street Lexington is a volunteer-based organization that works to improve and promote the downtown Lexington area. In December, the Lexington Architectural Review Board approved the group’s plans for a $1 million renovation of the old courthouse square at 2 S. Main St.
The organization hopes to create a safer and better community space, said Rebecca Logan, the Main Street Executive Director. Plans include shifting the Veterans Memorial 25 feet to the left, putting in new bricks, planting more greenery and replacing entrance stairs with a ramp to make the space more handicapped accessible.
“We’re just trying to clean it up and make it obvious that it’s a community space, because that is not clear,” Logan said. “We’ve heard from people thinking that’s, you know, a private park for the businesses in that section.”
In mid-January, Main Street Lexington found out that its VA250 Preservation Grant Fund application was denied, according to Logan.
“The budget that we put together for the grant was ‘pie in the sky’ – this is everything we wish for,” said Logan. “We’re going to be very thoughtful about the costs now that we did not get the grant money, and we’re not expecting it to be as expensive.”
The state grant program was created to support improvements for historical Virginia sites in anticipation of the country’s 250th anniversary, Joanna Hejl, the VA250 Preservation Grant Coordinator, said in an email. Main Street Lexington had applied for the grant in hopes to attain funding because of the old courthouse ground’s historical significance to the city.
“The reason why Lexington exists is because the courthouse was built here so that folks didn’t have to travel on foot or by horse to Staunton or to Buchanan,” Logan said.
The previous courthouse building is now privately owned and leased to Washington and Lee University. However, Rockbridge County owns the small space where the memorial is located, and the courthouse square “common space” is owned by Lexington.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources had received 166 grant applications, requesting $95 million altogether, Hejl said. However, only $20 million was available for funding.
A grant proposal may have not been selected because it did not meet program priorities, the standards of the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, or because there were worries that the projects would not be completed by June 30, 2026, Hejl said in an email.
The courthouse square project already has about a third of its desired amount set aside from donations. Early on, Washington and Lee University had pledged $60,000 and Lexington had pledged $120,000 for the renovations.
“We’ve already dispersed $60,000 and we’re planning to fund $60,000 next year, starting July,” Carroll said.
However, the search for funding continues.
“The committee for the Courthouse Square project, despite not getting the grant, is resolved to raising the money and seeing the proposal to its fruition,” Lexington Mayor Frank Friedman said during the Feb. 6 city council meeting.
Soon, Main Street Lexington will be applying for more grant applications, but for smaller sums of money. The organization is close to submitting a T-Mobile grant application for $50,000, and it has asked for funding from the Rockbridge Community Health Foundation, Logan said.
Aside from grants, the organization will also be planning its fundraising efforts and searching for material and labor donations, Carroll said.
According to Logan, Main Street Lexington has people in mind that they can ask for free contributions such as plants and mulch. The organization also hopes to obtain discounted services related to the renovation process.
“I’m sure we’ll get more updates as they make progress, but still very optimistic that that programming will get completed,” Friedman said.