Annaburg Manor ‘clearly not being properly maintained’

MANASSAS — One of the city’s most historic structures is crumbling, and Manassas officials will hold a public meeting asking for residents input on whether or not to save it. 

The 35-room Annaburg Manor, located at 9201 Maple Street, was built in 1892 and was one of the first homes in then Prince William County with air-conditioning. 

Later used as a nursing and rehabilitation complex in the 1960s through 2007, the property is now owned by Novant. 

From an email: 

You may already have heard about this, but just in case you haven’t, I thought that you might be interested…

 

The City of Manassas Architectural Review Board (ARB) will be holding a special meeting on Wednesday, October 11th at 7:30 pm to hear public input on the proposal to create a Historic District to protect the Annaburg mansion and grounds. 

 

The meeting will be held in City Council Chambers on the first floor of City Hall.

Attached fyi is the [PDF] memo and attachments prepared by city staff for the ARB, which held its first work session on Annaburg on Tuesday, September 12th, as part of its regular meeting on that date.

Also, below is a link to a video of that work session (it’s about 30 minutes). 

I think that the two big take-aways from that meeting are that all members of the ARB expressed the belief that Annaburg is a very historic structure that must be protected, and that there is grave concern based on the information presented by the property owner (Novant/UVA Health System), that the structure is clearly not being properly maintained in accordance with the requirements of the city’s property maintenance code. 

Members of the ARB repeatedly suggested that what seems to be occurring is demolition by neglect.

Here’s the video link.

 

If city leaders do not grant the property historical protection, it could be demolished to make way for a new subdivision.

 

From city documents:

“The site is currently zoned R-2S, Single Family Residential. This zoning would permit the subdivision of the site to develop with single family homes by right. As previously noted, the Caton Merchant House (SUP # 1984-02) is located on the eastern end of the site. This legally non-conforming use is located in a separate building from Annaburg Manor. Without the protection of HOD zoning, a building permit could be filed and approved administratively for the demolition of Annaburg Manor. With the HOD zoning, demolition could only occur via the issuance of a Certificate of Appropriateness by the Architectural Review Board, or other avenues as provided in the Zoning Ordinance.”