Historic Oakton Schoolhouse Restoration Begins

The Fairfax County Park Authority, in partnership with Chevy Chase Bank and the Friends of Oakton Schoolhouse, will begin the long-awaited restoration of the historic Oakton Schoolhouse in mid-April. This restoration will complete a four-year community plan to save an important Oakton landmark that included moving it from its original site to parkland. On January 7, 2007, the Oakton Schoolhouse was relocated from the intersection of Hunter Mill Road and Chain Bridge Road to its current and permanent location at Oakton Community Park located at 2841 Hunter Mill Road, approximately one-half mile from its original location.

The restoration will be performed in accordance with national standards for work on historic structures. In this first phase, the exterior will be restored with repaired materials or similar materials that were salvaged from an adjacent building wing that was demolished after the schoolhouse was removed. The schoolhouse will be restored to its period of significance at the turn of the century.

The Friends of Oakton Schoolhouse, a community-based volunteer support group who advocated for the preservation and restoration of the structure, will assist the Park Authority with schoolhouse maintenance and interpretation once the work is complete. There will not be public access inside the building but there will be interpretive displays and visitors will be able to peer into the interior. The Friends of Oakton Schoolhouse hope to create public access into the building in the future.

The existing schoolhouse site was most recently occupied by Appalachian Outfitters. The store building used the schoolhouse and an attached building that was once Payne’s Oakton Store. Chevy Chase Bank proposed the mitigation plan that saved the building by relocating it. The building will serve as an interpretive took providing an example of a late nineteenth century one-room schoolhouse.

Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth reaffirmed her support for this project at the recent preconstruction meeting. "This has been a long time coming. It took a lot of cooperation and dedication by many individuals and organizations to get to this point. The community will be actively interested in this restoration and the preservation of an Oakton landmark. It’s a day to celebrate."

For more information contact the Public Information Office at 703-324-8662.