The board has officially reversed their decision and the building will be preserved. It is a profound relief to see our shared commitment result in the protection of this landmark. We proved that focused advocacy carries real weight and I am grateful to have traveled this path alongside all of …
July 22, 2016
Final supporters
UPDATE 7/29/2016:
Fairfax board votes to demolish famed Reston building for new townhouses
professionalism.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Sekas Homes application for rezoning. The Marcel Breuer-designed American Press Institute building in Reston, Virginia, will be demolished and replaced with townhouses and condos.
It's not the ending we had envisioned for Mr. Breuer's remarkable building or this uplifting journey we've shared together since June.
Much love and many thanks to everyone who was part of Team Breuer-API, including the 1,600 supporters from around the globe who signed our online petition. Thank you for raising your voices!
To everyone who signed the petition, sent an email, made a call, attended a meeting, wrote a letter, spread the word, testified, invited an expert into our circle, or took on assignments large or small -- thank you. Without your help, we never would have gotten this far.
It was your endless encouragement and passion for the magnificent building that kept us on track and always moving forward. For that, we will be forever grateful to all of you. Thank you.
To learn more about this effort, please visit http://savetheapibuilding.com.
UPDATE:The American Press Institute (API) building has won Round 1 in the fight to save it from demolition!
After a split vote (5-5) on June 16, the Fairfax County Planning Commission is sending the developer's application for rezoning to the Board of Supervisors with a "negative recommendation."
The county’s Comprehensive Plan (2013) failed to identify the significance of Reston’s API building. Several commissioners said the county made a grave error:
“This was a major
screw up,” said At-Large Member James Hart. “I hope this is a wake-up call to us that we need to make sure
something like this does not happen again.”
Your more than 1,300 petition signatures — along with a deluge of emails,
letters and documents — made it clear that the API building is a treasure
designed by a world-class architect and a crucial chapter in Reston’s history.
The API building — the only Marcel Breuer building in
Virginia — is a story told by people across Virginia … from Maine to Alaska …
and throughout the world. We have one voice: The API building must be preserved, treasured and celebrated.
As a commissioner said during the lengthy discussion, “The world is now aware that this building exists."
But, we’ve just begun.
What’s next?
“Phase 2” of this campaign — the time leading up to the Board of Supervisors meetings (Dates: TBD) — will require us to collect many more petition signatures while fortifying the case — legal and otherwise — that the API building should not be demolished. We’ll keep you posted on all developments.
How you can help
- Please share this petition with your network.
- Know any architects, historians or other experts who believe in historic preservation? Send this petition and encourage them to sign it, and then share it with their networks.
- Send an email to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which ultimately will decide the fate of the API building.
Please send your email to:
Email “subject” line (required):
Re: The former headquarters of the American Press Institute (API), Reston, Virginia (RZ/FDP 2015-HM-012 Sekas Homes, Ltd.)
Who’s supporting our campaign?
- American Institute of Architects (AIA)
- AIA Virginia
- AIA Northern Virginia
- DOCOMOMO US (Documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement)
- Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources
- Fairfax County Architectural Review Board
- Fairfax County History Commission
- Fairfax Library Advocates
- Modern Capital DC
- Reston Citizens Association
- Reston Historic Trust & Museum
- Reston 20/20
- Reston and other Fairfax County residents as well as supporters across the United States and around the world
- Community leaders
- Architects, historians and preservationists
- North American journalists and other new smedia executives who attended API seminars and conferences, served as guest faculty members, and held leadership roles with the Institute
- Former API staff members
- Those who believe that architectural treasures should be preserved
ORIGINAL PETITION:
The
American Press Institute (API) building in Reston, VA, is under the threat of
demolition.
It is the only building in Virginia by the internationally acclaimed architect Marcel
Breuer, “a master of Modernism” who also designed the Whitney Museum of
American Art (now the Met Breuer), the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and the
HUD building in Washington, D.C.
For nearly 38 years, tens of thousands of news media executives — representing a “Who’s Who in Journalism” — attended leadership seminars in the nonprofit’s Breuer-designed headquarters in Reston.
- The API building is historically and architecturally significant.
- It is a crucial chapter in Reston’s rich history.
- It should have a second life instead of being torn down.
That’s why we’re
asking you to sign this petition to save the API building.
On June 16, the Fairfax
Planning Commission will make a final decision on a local developer’s
application for rezoning the property from business to residential and a
demolition permit.
Please sign this petition by Monday,
June 13, so that we can submit all of the signatures to the Planning
Commission in advance of the June 16 meeting.
If the Fairfax County Planning Commission and, soon after, the Board of Supervisors approve this plan, the building will be razed so that single- and multi-family housing can be built on the site.
A growing coalition — local and nationwide —questions this plan given what's at stake, including:
- Fairfax County Architectural Review Board (ARB)
- Fairfax County History Commission
- Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources
- Reston and other Fairfax County residents
- Community leaders
- Architects, historians and preservationists
- Journalists and other newsmedia executives across North America who attended API programs
- Former API staff members
- Those who believe that architectural treasures should be preserved
During a May 24 special meeting, the Fairfax County ARB
passed a motion and sent it with a letter to county officials “urgently”
pleading that:
“The Planning Commission, the Board of
Supervisors, and County agencies consider further historical and architectural evaluation
and specific heritage resource significance of the American Press Institute
building, and consider appropriate land usage that could lead to the
preservation and/or adaptive reuse of the building … so that informed decisions
can be made based on professional analysis.”
This was not the first time the ARB contacted county officials about the API
building. In a letter (Oct. 5, 2015), the ARB said that it "believes that the property has a reasonable potential for meeting
the criteria for listing on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites and
the National Register of Historic Places.”
Furthermore, the ARB recommended that the Board and
Commission "take action to suspend
the demolition permit … and to consider the specific heritage resource significance
of the API site in particular in regard to the pending rezoning application.”
In a letter (Nov. 6, 2015) to county officials, the Fairfax History Commission “unanimously”
concurred with the ARB’s letter.
On May 17, David Edwards, Architectural Historian for the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources, wrote:
"It
is our opinion that the API building reaches the level of exceptional
importance … and strongly encourages its preservation.
“If the API building were to be demolished, the community and the state would
lose the work of a master architect. Additionally, and maybe more importantly,
Reston would lose a building that is part of its community’s distinctive
architectural history.”
Despite these grave
concerns, the Fairfax County Planning and Zoning staff has recommended to the Fairfax
Planning Commission its approval of the rezoning application.
JOIN US in stopping the demolition of the
American Press Institute building by signing this petition.
THANK YOU for supporting this campaign. Please keep spreading the word!
- “Let’s save Reston’s API building” (The Washington Post, July 22, 2016)
- AIA letter of support
- Letter of support: Robert Gatje FAIA, former partner of Marcel Breuer and Associates
- Letter of Support: Dan Shewbridge, AIA, Principal, Architecture, Inc., Reston
- API’s `superstars’ inspired the media industry’s `rising stars’
- ARB Letter and Motion to County Officials (May 24, 2016)
- Letter from David Edwards, Architectural Historian for the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources (May 17, 2016)
- Letters Fairfax County ARB and History Commission (Oct. and Nov. 2015)
- API Building History
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
June 13, 2016
June 11, 2016
We are approaching the one thousand signature milestone and this momentum demonstrates that our community values the preservation of architectural history. If each of you reaches out to one other person to highlight the importance of the Marcel Breuer building today we will reach a level of visibility that becomes impossible to ignore.
Reached 100 supporters
June 8, 2016
11 Comments
It makes no sense to substitute new structures of lesser significance on the API site. The API building is a "treasure" and should be given better thoughts for re-use, than to be reduced to rumble to make way for more "insignificant" townhouses. Dan Cammer
In addition to its architectural significance as a Marcel Breuer design--and its perfect symmetry with the surrounding campus and mature trees—the API building represents the vision Robert E. Simon had for our community. It should be preserved as an historical marker for its architecture, its own history in journalism, and its representation of historic Reston. It deserves protection and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
As a new town Reston has a short architectural history so we need to protect the gems that we have. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder respect is needed for historic buildings by internationally recognized architects.
To pile onto Brian Murphy's comment, the fact that the Reston area is "new" - by VA standards anyway - is all the more reason to hold onto world class design and the renowned stature of this building. It wouldn't be a precedent. The Dulles Airport terminal and Lake Anne Village Center have achieved NHR status for their concept and design. The API building, although not Breure's largest project, is by no means an insignificant work by any standard. To the P&Z folks and County Board. What's your rush? Figure out what you have here because once it's gone, it's gone.
A historically and architecturally significant building is powerful and inspirational. It ties together our heritage, our culture, and our enduring values. It serves as a mirror, helping us understand where we’ve been and where we’re going. It is something to be treasured and preserved. The American Press Institute building deserves no less.
The Marcel Breuer-designed API building in Reston, VA, isn't the only Breuer building under the threat of demolition. The Atlanta Central Library -- which opened in 1980 and is Breuer's last design -- is as well. A MoveOn petition has been created, asking that the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System Board of Trustees take actions to protect the Central Library and Library System Headquarters Building from demolition and damaging renovation, whether the Library System maintains ownership or sells the building. It also asks that the building is renamed to honor its architect, the internationally renowned Marcel Breuer. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-the-marcel-breuer Please take a moment to read about the petition and the heroic efforts being made to save one of Atlanta's treasures. By signing the Atlanta petition, countless people are saying in one voice that Breuer's architecture is significant and needs to be preserved, treasured and celebrated for generations to come. Thank you for your consideration. Forward!
Thank you for your many signatures and for sending emails and letters of support to Fairfax County executives about preserving the API building. After a split vote (5-5) on June 16, the Fairfax County Planning Commission sent the developer's application for rezoning to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) with a "negative recommendation." We have been told that the TENTATIVE DATE for the BOS public hearing on the developer's application will be held JULY 26. We soon will be able to pin down the final details and agenda. We will be sure to update you. The 1,300+ petition signatures — from Maine to Alaska and throughout the world — impressed the Planning Commission. Here’s a recap of the Planning Commission meeting: https://www.restonnow.com/2016/06/17/after-major-screw-up-planning-commission-recommends-denial-of-api-building-rezoning/ Here’s a link to the video of the June 16 meeting. The discussion of the developer's rezoning application and demolition permit starts at the 11:35 mark and concludes at 1:04:38. http//www.ebmcdn.net/fairfax/fairfax-county-viewer.php?w=768&h=432&viewnode=PC_6_16_16 Please keep sharing this petition with your networks. Forward!
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
Your share link
The board has officially reversed their decision and the building will be preserved. It is a profound relief to see our shared commitment result in the protection of this landmark. We proved that focused advocacy carries real weight and I am grateful to have traveled this path alongside all of …
July 22, 2016
Final supporters
UPDATE 7/29/2016:
Fairfax board votes to demolish famed Reston building for new townhouses
professionalism.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Sekas Homes application for rezoning. The Marcel Breuer-designed American Press Institute building in Reston, Virginia, will be demolished and replaced with townhouses and condos.
It's not the ending we had envisioned for Mr. Breuer's remarkable building or this uplifting journey we've shared together since June.
Much love and many thanks to everyone who was part of Team Breuer-API, including the 1,600 supporters from around the globe who signed our online petition. Thank you for raising your voices!
To everyone who signed the petition, sent an email, made a call, attended a meeting, wrote a letter, spread the word, testified, invited an expert into our circle, or took on assignments large or small -- thank you. Without your help, we never would have gotten this far.
It was your endless encouragement and passion for the magnificent building that kept us on track and always moving forward. For that, we will be forever grateful to all of you. Thank you.
To learn more about this effort, please visit http://savetheapibuilding.com.
UPDATE:The American Press Institute (API) building has won Round 1 in the fight to save it from demolition!
After a split vote (5-5) on June 16, the Fairfax County Planning Commission is sending the developer's application for rezoning to the Board of Supervisors with a "negative recommendation."
The county’s Comprehensive Plan (2013) failed to identify the significance of Reston’s API building. Several commissioners said the county made a grave error:
“This was a major
screw up,” said At-Large Member James Hart. “I hope this is a wake-up call to us that we need to make sure
something like this does not happen again.”
Your more than 1,300 petition signatures — along with a deluge of emails,
letters and documents — made it clear that the API building is a treasure
designed by a world-class architect and a crucial chapter in Reston’s history.
The API building — the only Marcel Breuer building in
Virginia — is a story told by people across Virginia … from Maine to Alaska …
and throughout the world. We have one voice: The API building must be preserved, treasured and celebrated.
As a commissioner said during the lengthy discussion, “The world is now aware that this building exists."
But, we’ve just begun.
What’s next?
“Phase 2” of this campaign — the time leading up to the Board of Supervisors meetings (Dates: TBD) — will require us to collect many more petition signatures while fortifying the case — legal and otherwise — that the API building should not be demolished. We’ll keep you posted on all developments.
How you can help
- Please share this petition with your network.
- Know any architects, historians or other experts who believe in historic preservation? Send this petition and encourage them to sign it, and then share it with their networks.
- Send an email to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which ultimately will decide the fate of the API building.
Please send your email to:
Email “subject” line (required):
Re: The former headquarters of the American Press Institute (API), Reston, Virginia (RZ/FDP 2015-HM-012 Sekas Homes, Ltd.)
Who’s supporting our campaign?
- American Institute of Architects (AIA)
- AIA Virginia
- AIA Northern Virginia
- DOCOMOMO US (Documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement)
- Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources
- Fairfax County Architectural Review Board
- Fairfax County History Commission
- Fairfax Library Advocates
- Modern Capital DC
- Reston Citizens Association
- Reston Historic Trust & Museum
- Reston 20/20
- Reston and other Fairfax County residents as well as supporters across the United States and around the world
- Community leaders
- Architects, historians and preservationists
- North American journalists and other new smedia executives who attended API seminars and conferences, served as guest faculty members, and held leadership roles with the Institute
- Former API staff members
- Those who believe that architectural treasures should be preserved
ORIGINAL PETITION:
The
American Press Institute (API) building in Reston, VA, is under the threat of
demolition.
It is the only building in Virginia by the internationally acclaimed architect Marcel
Breuer, “a master of Modernism” who also designed the Whitney Museum of
American Art (now the Met Breuer), the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and the
HUD building in Washington, D.C.
For nearly 38 years, tens of thousands of news media executives — representing a “Who’s Who in Journalism” — attended leadership seminars in the nonprofit’s Breuer-designed headquarters in Reston.
- The API building is historically and architecturally significant.
- It is a crucial chapter in Reston’s rich history.
- It should have a second life instead of being torn down.
That’s why we’re
asking you to sign this petition to save the API building.
On June 16, the Fairfax
Planning Commission will make a final decision on a local developer’s
application for rezoning the property from business to residential and a
demolition permit.
Please sign this petition by Monday,
June 13, so that we can submit all of the signatures to the Planning
Commission in advance of the June 16 meeting.
If the Fairfax County Planning Commission and, soon after, the Board of Supervisors approve this plan, the building will be razed so that single- and multi-family housing can be built on the site.
A growing coalition — local and nationwide —questions this plan given what's at stake, including:
- Fairfax County Architectural Review Board (ARB)
- Fairfax County History Commission
- Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources
- Reston and other Fairfax County residents
- Community leaders
- Architects, historians and preservationists
- Journalists and other newsmedia executives across North America who attended API programs
- Former API staff members
- Those who believe that architectural treasures should be preserved
During a May 24 special meeting, the Fairfax County ARB
passed a motion and sent it with a letter to county officials “urgently”
pleading that:
“The Planning Commission, the Board of
Supervisors, and County agencies consider further historical and architectural evaluation
and specific heritage resource significance of the American Press Institute
building, and consider appropriate land usage that could lead to the
preservation and/or adaptive reuse of the building … so that informed decisions
can be made based on professional analysis.”
This was not the first time the ARB contacted county officials about the API
building. In a letter (Oct. 5, 2015), the ARB said that it "believes that the property has a reasonable potential for meeting
the criteria for listing on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites and
the National Register of Historic Places.”
Furthermore, the ARB recommended that the Board and
Commission "take action to suspend
the demolition permit … and to consider the specific heritage resource significance
of the API site in particular in regard to the pending rezoning application.”
In a letter (Nov. 6, 2015) to county officials, the Fairfax History Commission “unanimously”
concurred with the ARB’s letter.
On May 17, David Edwards, Architectural Historian for the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources, wrote:
"It
is our opinion that the API building reaches the level of exceptional
importance … and strongly encourages its preservation.
“If the API building were to be demolished, the community and the state would
lose the work of a master architect. Additionally, and maybe more importantly,
Reston would lose a building that is part of its community’s distinctive
architectural history.”
Despite these grave
concerns, the Fairfax County Planning and Zoning staff has recommended to the Fairfax
Planning Commission its approval of the rezoning application.
JOIN US in stopping the demolition of the
American Press Institute building by signing this petition.
THANK YOU for supporting this campaign. Please keep spreading the word!
- “Let’s save Reston’s API building” (The Washington Post, July 22, 2016)
- AIA letter of support
- Letter of support: Robert Gatje FAIA, former partner of Marcel Breuer and Associates
- Letter of Support: Dan Shewbridge, AIA, Principal, Architecture, Inc., Reston
- API’s `superstars’ inspired the media industry’s `rising stars’
- ARB Letter and Motion to County Officials (May 24, 2016)
- Letter from David Edwards, Architectural Historian for the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Historic Resources (May 17, 2016)
- Letters Fairfax County ARB and History Commission (Oct. and Nov. 2015)
- API Building History
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
June 13, 2016
June 11, 2016
We are approaching the one thousand signature milestone and this momentum demonstrates that our community values the preservation of architectural history. If each of you reaches out to one other person to highlight the importance of the Marcel Breuer building today we will reach a level of visibility that becomes impossible to ignore.
Reached 100 supporters
June 8, 2016
11 Comments
The building boom in Northern Virginia is bringing the region a few quality structures, but few as exciting or distinguished as the Marcel Breuer API Building.
It makes no sense to substitute new structures of lesser significance on the API site. The API building is a "treasure" and should be given better thoughts for re-use, than to be reduced to rumble to make way for more "insignificant" townhouses. Dan Cammer
In addition to its architectural significance as a Marcel Breuer design--and its perfect symmetry with the surrounding campus and mature trees—the API building represents the vision Robert E. Simon had for our community. It should be preserved as an historical marker for its architecture, its own history in journalism, and its representation of historic Reston. It deserves protection and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
As a new town Reston has a short architectural history so we need to protect the gems that we have. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder respect is needed for historic buildings by internationally recognized architects.
To pile onto Brian Murphy's comment, the fact that the Reston area is "new" - by VA standards anyway - is all the more reason to hold onto world class design and the renowned stature of this building. It wouldn't be a precedent. The Dulles Airport terminal and Lake Anne Village Center have achieved NHR status for their concept and design. The API building, although not Breure's largest project, is by no means an insignificant work by any standard. To the P&Z folks and County Board. What's your rush? Figure out what you have here because once it's gone, it's gone.
A historically and architecturally significant building is powerful and inspirational. It ties together our heritage, our culture, and our enduring values. It serves as a mirror, helping us understand where we’ve been and where we’re going. It is something to be treasured and preserved. The American Press Institute building deserves no less.
The Marcel Breuer-designed API building in Reston, VA, isn't the only Breuer building under the threat of demolition. The Atlanta Central Library -- which opened in 1980 and is Breuer's last design -- is as well. A MoveOn petition has been created, asking that the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System Board of Trustees take actions to protect the Central Library and Library System Headquarters Building from demolition and damaging renovation, whether the Library System maintains ownership or sells the building. It also asks that the building is renamed to honor its architect, the internationally renowned Marcel Breuer. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-the-marcel-breuer Please take a moment to read about the petition and the heroic efforts being made to save one of Atlanta's treasures. By signing the Atlanta petition, countless people are saying in one voice that Breuer's architecture is significant and needs to be preserved, treasured and celebrated for generations to come. Thank you for your consideration. Forward!
Thank you for your many signatures and for sending emails and letters of support to Fairfax County executives about preserving the API building. After a split vote (5-5) on June 16, the Fairfax County Planning Commission sent the developer's application for rezoning to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) with a "negative recommendation." We have been told that the TENTATIVE DATE for the BOS public hearing on the developer's application will be held JULY 26. We soon will be able to pin down the final details and agenda. We will be sure to update you. The 1,300+ petition signatures — from Maine to Alaska and throughout the world — impressed the Planning Commission. Here’s a recap of the Planning Commission meeting: https://www.restonnow.com/2016/06/17/after-major-screw-up-planning-commission-recommends-denial-of-api-building-rezoning/ Here’s a link to the video of the June 16 meeting. The discussion of the developer's rezoning application and demolition permit starts at the 11:35 mark and concludes at 1:04:38. http//www.ebmcdn.net/fairfax/fairfax-county-viewer.php?w=768&h=432&viewnode=PC_6_16_16 Please keep sharing this petition with your networks. Forward!
Share this petition
Share this petition to help it reach more people.
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The building boom in Northern Virginia is bringing the region a few quality structures, but few as exciting or distinguished as the Marcel Breuer API Building.