Commonwealth

The Asbury Church is a vacant historic African American church in Middleburg, Virginia. It was constructed in 1787 and became an African American church in 1864, serving numerous congregants and community members. The Town of Middleburg hired CPG to identify the community’s vision for the Asbury Church’s future and to assist the Town with developing a reuse plan for the building that met the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.

This project combined the technical expertise of building rehabilitation with public engagement to identify reuse options for the Asbury Church. First, CPG staff familiarized themselves with the building through a site visit, which afforded them the ability to document the building, observe its current condition, and better understand the physical structure overall. Staff also met with internal stakeholders to determine what reuse options were technically feasible and might meet the goals of the various stakeholder groups. Additional feedback was gathered through a public input survey offered in both online and hard copy formats. The data gathered from these outreach efforts was analyzed and presented to the larger community at a public meeting.

The available reuse options were limited by a number of on-site factors, including a lack of parking, ADA accessibility, and interior space. Additionally, any reuse option had to be reconciled with its potential impact on the historic building, the surrounding neighborhood, and the Town of Middleburg as the building’s owner. CPG took the various perspectives into consideration and expertly identified several reuse options that would serve the needs of the community without disrupting the residential area or placing a strain on the Town. CPG also received positive feedback from community members on the level of transparency and engagement that the team facilitated.

The Asbury Church Community Engagement Report and Reuse Recommendations