SAIGON BOULEVARD

The long-awaited groundbreaking of a uniquely designed 270,000 square foot building adjacent to the City of Falls Church is scheduled to happen today (Thursday, Jan. 23). The building will house the 40,000 square foot Virginia Tech “Coalition for Smart Construction” on its ground floor, as well as a new headquarters for the HITT Contracting.

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer will deliver the main remarks at the site at 11 a.m. today, with Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi, Juan Segura, Virginia’s chief deputy secretary for commerce and trade, and Kim Roy, CEO of HITT also on the program.

A spokesman for HITT, a top national commercial construction firm, said the company “aspires to redefine the future of construction with the unveiling of plans for our innovative six-story, 270,000-squarefoot headquarters next to Falls Church.”

The iconic Brown’s Hardware Store at the intersection of W. Broad and N. Washington in downtown Falls Church will close its door for good on March 30 and its sale is slated to be completed April 1, according to a local website report. An ongoing business in Falls Church for 142 years, Brown’s Hardware has long been appreciated by locals as a friendly “go to” place where one could find almost anything.

With the passing of Hugh Rose Brown, the grandson of the founder, in November 2018, the business was left to his store manager, John Taylor, who has been the owner since.

Originally opened by a school teacher, James W. Brown, in 1883 as Brown’s Groceries and Hardware, the store was the Falls Church township’s first commercial business. James

Brown died in 1907 and his son, Horace Brown, ran the store for 52 years until 1959, when Horace suffered a stroke and died. In 1949 the store had shifted from being a general store to being solely a hardware store.

Hugh Brown, born in 1926 to Horace and Augusta Rose Brown, took over running the store upon his father’s death in 1959. A lifelong bachelor, he operated the store from 1959 for 60 years until his death at age 92.

A pocket park a few doors down from the Brown’s Hardware location on W. Broad was renovated and named in honor of Hugh as “Mr. Brown’s Park” in 2019.

At that time, the Falls Church City Council approved a proclamation in honor of Hugh Brown,

Local Bookstore to Fete 14 Years Next

Wednesday

One More Page Books at 2200 Westmoreland will be celebrating its 14th anniversary next Wednesday, Jan. 29, bucking the trend that has been savagely wrecking small, locallyowned stores of its type in recent decades. The event will be from 6 to 8 p.m.

Owner Eileen McGervey has announced, “We’ll have cookies, snacks, bubbly, and more” for those choosing to “hang out with your favorite booksellers and fellow loyal customers” on the occasion.

Founded in January 2011, One More Page Books, a womanowned independent bookstore, bills itself as “a place of welcome and discovery where a love of reading is cultivated alongside friendship, acceptance, and connection. We strive to be a gathering place for the community and nurturing environment for diverse authors and readers. We curate a wide selection of books, puzzles, chocolate, wine, and more, to make our store a place of exploration and delight.”