McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) is planning to build an additional arts facility in unused retail space in central McLean and Fairfax County supervisors commissioned a report June 25 about potentially chipping in for the project.
The Board of Supervisors directed County Executive Bryan Hill to prepare an initial evaluation of a potential investment in MPA’s project, under guidelines of the county’s Economic Opportunity Reserve (EOR), and present it at a future meeting of the board’s Economic Initiatives Committee.
The art group’s plans for “MPA Downtown” include two galleries, a state-of-the-art teaching space, a ceramics studio, cafe, staff offices and a small retail area vending gifts and art supplies inside currently vacant retail areas at The Signet condominium building, located at 6900 Fleetwood Road.
The space, designed by W. Kenneth Wiseman of CannonDesign, will be configured to allow for events such as fund-raisers, gallery openings and jazz nights. MPA aims to have the facility open by summer 2025, said executive director Lori Carbonneau.
“We are excited to be at the heart of an active downtown McLean – located in The Signet, walking distance from the McLean House and Ashby buildings, and across the street from the new Mars headquarters and the recently approved Astoria building,” she said.
No EOR investment would be made in the initiative without the Board of Supervisors’ approval.
Hill’s report also should evaluate whether MPA would be able to shoulder the new facility’s long-term operating costs, said Supervisor James Walkinshaw (D-Braddock).
“Setting it up is one thing, but running it long-term is a more significant cost,” he said.
MPA officials have negotiated to buy The Signet’s empty retail space and convert it and its outdoor patio into a “cultural landmark in downtown McLean,” said Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville), who proposed commissioning the report.
Founded in 1962, the nonprofit MPA displays art and provides educational enrichment for the community, he said. The group moved into its current location upstairs in the McLean Community Center in 1990.
The group since 2019 has endeavored to create a new arts and educational facility. MPA initially worked with the Fairfax County Park Authority about building such a facility at Clemyjontri Park in McLean, but those plans – which had gone as far as conceptual building designs – eventually fell through.
MPA so far has collected nearly $2 million in its capital campaign to purchase The Signet’s retail area and build a new multipurpose space, but has yet to meet its financial goal. The fund-raising tally so far demonstrates “strong community and donor support for this project,” Bierman said.
“While the MPA arts-and-education center will be a valuable cultural amenity in downtown McLean, it is my belief that it has the potential to also serve as an economic catalyst,” he said.
Supervisors supported Bierman’s motion to have county staff evaluate the appropriateness of a contribution toward the project to ensure the facility’s eventual delivery, which will “promote vibrancy and economic development in downtown McLean that will generate new sources of revenue for the county,” he said.
Supervisors established the McLean Commercial Revitalization District in 1998 and in June 2021 adopted a new comprehensive-plan amendment to guide the future redevelopment of central McLean.
The Signet, a seven-story, 123-unit condominium building, was built in 2018 before the new plan’s adoption. It also contains a publicly accessible park and 5,000 square feet of retail space, which has been vacant since the building’s delivery.
“A vacant storefront in the heart of downtown McLean hinders revitalization efforts under way,” Bierman said. “Furthermore, it’s a missed opportunity, as the retail space sits on one side of the park that is currently often vacant, directly across from where the new Mars headquarters and a new, 130-unit multi-family building will be located.”
Carbonneau said MPA leaders were looking forward to working with county staff to explore funding possibilities through the Economic Opportunity Reserve.
“We are deeply appreciative of Supervisor Bierman’s interest in this initiative and his vision for a vibrant community with sustainable growth,” she said.
