Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia

Virginia Military Institute Preservation Master Plan (PDF) 18.5MB

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), founded in 1839 as the first state-supported public military college in the U.S., has schooled such notable military leaders as "Stonewall" Jackson and George C. Marshall. The core of the campus, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1974, features a historic landscape with buildings around a parade ground. Prominent architects have left their mark on the campus: Alexander Jackson Davis designed the original Gothic-revival campus, which was redesigned by Bertram Goodhue in the early 20th century. VMI will develop a comprehensive historic preservation master plan for all buildings and landscapes in the historic core, and for all pre-1955 buildings and landscapes throughout the campus.

Virginia Military Institute received a Getty grant in 2005 for $125,000 to support campus heritage planning.

Report Summary

Purpose: The grant will provide funds to develop a comprehensive historic preservation master plan for all pre-1955 buildings and landscapes throughout the Institute’s campus, or “Post,” and for features of any age within the Post’s historic core.

Historic Designation: The campus landscape centered on a historic parade ground area was designated a Historic District constituting a National Historic Landmark in 1974. The parade ground’s Barracks building was individually designated a National Historic Landmark.

Planning Process Used

• The report does not indicate any student involvement.
• Consultants assisted an internal Institute advisory committee, among other things conducting interviews (the report does not indicate whether interviewees included advisory committee members or students)
• Historic resources were inventoried
• Buildings and landscapes were superficially assessed
• Treatments were recommended for short- and long-term care and for maintenance.

Outcomes: Products

• Field notes and digital photographs documenting all of the Institute’s historic resources
• Expanded listing of buildings comprising the VMI Historic District
• Articulated preservation issues and goals, constituting a framework for the Institute’s growth in combination with the goals of VMI’s document Vision 2039
• Architectural treatment guidelines
• Criteria/guidelines for the use and maintenance of building materials and features
• Management guidelines
• Recommended plant list, noting those to be kept from buildings constructed with mortar
• Alternatives to contraindicated growth, e.g., relocation for a pedestrian bridge

Outcomes: Policies and Practices

• Articulation of preservation issues and goals
• Recommendation to formalize decision making
• Recommendation to implement criteria/guidelines for maintenance and new construction
• Guidelines for new construction

Unique Features: Alternatives to contraindicated growth, e.g., relocation for a pedestrian bridge

Advisors: An internal advisory committee provided expertise in history, engineering architecture, construction, and fine arts.