September 11, 2019
Our 202nd year | Vol. 202, No. 37 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50
School Board agrees to buy land next to middle school Purchase paves way for expansion of Cedar Lee to accommodate 250-plus more students By Robin Earl
Times staff writer
At a school board meeting Monday night, Sept. 9, board members unanimously approved a resolution to purchase an acre and a half of land adjacent to Cedar Lee Middle School for $312,500. June H. Grimes is listed as the seller of the property at 11132 Marsh Road in Bealeton.
David Graham, executive director for administration and planning, said that the purchase would make it possible to expand the footprint of Cedar Lee without having to alter the back of the school. Tennis courts and ball fields are located there and would be expensive to relocate, Graham said. He said another benefit of acquiring the land at the front of the school is the opportunity to expand the bus loop, which he said is cramped and
unsafe. He added that currently there is no place for parents to park to quickly pick up or drop off their children. “If we did nothing else but fix the bus loop, that would be worth it,” he said. There is currently a house on the property slated for purchase. Graham said he could not say whether or not the school division would make use of that building. See SCHOOL BOARD, page 6
After 27 years at Waterloo Station, Rankin’s Furniture will close showroom Order-by-catalog model to replace high-overhead store By James Ivancic Times Staff Writer
“The little man is being squeezed out and people don’t seem to know what’s h a p p e n i n g ,” said James Rankin, who’s cutting overhead costs by JAMES RANKIN closing the Rankin’s Furniture showroom at 360 Waterloo St. in favor of an order-by-catalog model. A small furniture showroom area will be opened at his Rankin’s Hardware, 251 W. Lee Highway, in the Warrenton Village Center. Merchandise in stock has been discounted by 25 percent in anticipation of the closing of the Waterloo space within the next two months. Rankin formerly owned the Waterloo Station Shopping Center where the store has been for the past 27 years. The shopping center’s current owners are Andrea and Amber Ferrer, who operate Café Torino there. None of the furniture store’s six
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/ROBIN EARL
The retaining wall that defines the edge of the sports complex can be seen across the pond from the Fauquier County Fairgrounds.
Central Sports Complex should be complete by next fall Funding formula has changed since groundbreaking; federal grant no longer a factor By Robin Earl
Times Staff Writer
The future Central Sports Complex at the corner of Meetze Road and Old Auburn Road is beginning to take shape. With a little imagination and a generous dose of forward thinking, one can visualize where the six rectangular fields and five diamond fields will sit. During a tour of the construction site Friday, Sept. 6, Parks and Rec Director Gary Rzepecki said that fields should be playable by the fall of 2020. INSIDE Business.............................................13 Classified............................................34 Communities......................................30 Faith...................................................28
The overall project consists of six rectangular multi-use fields for sports such as soccer and lacrosse, a large diamond field and four small diamond fields, an umpire field house, a main building, an equestrian path and parking. A skating rink is planned for a future phase of the project. The fields will serve a variety of youth and adult field sports teams, including baseball, football, lacrosse and soccer. S.W. Rodgers of Gainesville is the general contractor. Timmons Group of Richmond designed the project. Family.................................................21 Horse Sports.......................................19 Lifestyle..............................................23 Opinion...............................................10
An earlier timeline for the fields projected that at least four fields would be playable by the end of August of this year. That ambitious plan was put in place so the county could qualify for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant of $1.3 million. County Administrator Paul McCulla explained, “We did not reach a deadline because the county did not end up taking the grant.” McCulla said that the experiences of other governments that received See COMPLEX, page 4
See RANKIN’S, page 8
Obituaries...........................................33 Puzzles...............................................12 Real Estate..........................................29 Sports.................................................15