Town hears detailed preservation plan for Saint Luke and Odd Fellows Hall in Newtown

Carol Davis, a town staff member who led the project presentation, told the Blacksburg Town Council on Tuesday that a working group and hired consultants have compiled a set of recommended actions to stabilize and restore the Saint Luke and Odd Fellows Hall in the historic Newtown neighborhood.

The recommendations cover structural reinforcement, climate control and monitoring, museum-grade lighting, targeted historic paint restoration and site landscaping, Davis said. The working group met for about 14 months and reviewed a Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) report, new engineering and architectural analyses, and community feedback before finalizing the list of roughly 32 recommended items.

The building is on land originally bought in the 19th century by Gilbert Braun, the presenter said, and the town’s period of historic significance for the site runs from 1905 to 1955. The Hall was damaged when a delivery truck struck the building in February 2003; that damage spurred a legal process placing trustees on the deed and, later, a deed of gift that transferred the property to the town and led to historic designation and an earlier stabilization and reopening as a museum.

Why it matters: The Hall is a locally and nationally recognized historic resource tied to Blacksburg’s African American community. The working group’s work is intended both to preserve character-defining features and to allow…