STATE SEMIS NEXT FOR FREEDOM AND BRENTSVILLE FOOTBALL: Both win region titles, PAGE 12
December 1, 2022 | Vol. 21, No. 48 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Taking care of their own
American Legion Post 114 Commander Larry Laws, left, and Don Scoggins, a member of the post, in front of the post lodge on Prince William Street that will soon be replaced by a new lodge and 12 affordable housing units geared toward veterans.
How American Legion Post 114 found a way to build a new lodge and 12 affordable homes for local vets By Jill Palermo
Time Staff Writer
For decades, starting around 1950, members of American Legion Post 114 made good use of their white cinderblock lodge on Prince William Street in Manassas. It’s where the post’s Black members held monthly meetings and family barbecues, building a sense of community among vets who didn’t feel welcome at other veterans’ organizations, which for a time were mostly segregated. But that began to change about a decade ago, when the aging lodge fell deeper and deeper into disrepair. Since about 2014, American Legion Post 114’s building has been unusable due to rotting floorboards, mold, mildew and paneling that was all but falling off the walls. Its decrepit state forced the post’s members to hold meetings elsewhere, sometimes at the Manassas Museum, and since the pandemic, mostly on Zoom.
At the same time, the post’s members were consumed with worry about what to do about the deteriorating lodge. American Legion Post 114 has a proud history. It was founded in 1946 by 16 African American veterans of World War I and World War II. They built the lodge and over the years came to own the building and two adjacent lots on Prince William Street, totaling 1.4 acres. One of the lots contains a small house, which the post rents to earn income. The Post also had a short-term commercial mortgage of about $140,000 that required monthly payments. In about 2016, the Post found itself in a tough spot. The mortgage was coming due, and its lender didn’t want to renew the loan. Post 114’s leaders could have sold all three lots, but then they would lose their lodge as well as any means of building a new one, said Don Scoggins, who was commander of the Post at the time.
TIMES STAFF PHOTO
See HOUSING, page 4
Officials mark full opening of the I-66 Express Lanes Lanes switch to HOV-3 on Dec. 5 By Cher Muzyk Staff Writer
Gov. Glenn Youngkin joined Prince William Board Chair Ann Wheeler and other officials in Fairfax County Tuesday to celebrate the full opening of the new Interstate 66 Express Lanes, which stretch for 22.5 miles between Va. 29 in Gainesville and the Capital Beltway. The I-66 Express Lanes consist of four newly constructed toll lanes – two eastbound and two westbound -- that run adjacent to the highway’s six reconstructed general-purpose lanes. The five-year, $3.7 billion public-private partnership funded PHOTOS BY DOUG STROUD
All is merry and bright
Residents enjoy the opening night of Neabsco Regional Park’s “Holiday Walk of Lights.” Bottom right: Prince William Parks and Recreation Director Seth Hendler-Voss and Supervisor Margaret Franklin, D-Woodbridge, welcome the crowd. See story, page 9.
County supervisors pass collective bargaining ordinance for police, firefighters, page 3
TIMES STAFF PHOTOS/ CHER MUZYK
Gov. Glenn Youngkin joined a Nov. 29 celebration of the I-66 Express Lanes full opening in Fairfax. the new Express Lanes as well as one new free lane in each direction, offering drivers a total of 10 lanes across the roadway. See EXPRESS LANES, page 2
“It’s no secret that those of us out in Prince William County have been plagued with some of the worst commutes for decades going into D.C. That actually changes today. This is a gamechanger for Prince William County.” PWC BOARD CHAIR ANN WHEELER, D-AT LARGE
County pedestrian deaths reach decade high, page 7
88 DULLES, VA