Project Update: Challenge Grant Awarded!

The Lynchburg Museum Foundation has received a $50,000 Challenge Grant for the Education Center at Point of Honor from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. This challenge must be met by November of 2018. Please help us meet this challenge with your gifts to the campaign. Gifts to be matched should reference the grant by name in the memo section of your check or by note.

The Lynchburg Junior Woman's Club has generously given a pledge to the Education Center at Point of Honor in the amount of $10,000. This gift will be paid over five years.

As we enter 2018 and learn the various rules that come with the new tax law, please know that for those who must take the required minimum distributions from your IRA's, that that money can still be given directly from your IRA to a charity or charities of your choice. If the gift is made directly from the IRA to a charity, you will not be taxed on that distribution as ordinary income. If you have questions about gifts from your IRA or other questions about gifts to charity, please consult your tax advisors.

Please send gifts to help make the Education Center at Point of Honor possible to the Lynchburg Museum Foundation, P.O. Box 529, Lynchburg, VA 24505

Case for the Point of Honor Education Center

Since 2006, the number of visitors to Point of Honor (POH) has almost doubled to 13,000 visitors per year. Family events such as Day at the Point and the Easter Egg Hunt alone generate between 2,500 and 3,500 attendees each. The previous additions to Point of Honor were the Carriage House and Kitchen, and these were built over 20 years ago.

To accommodate visitor growth, there is a pressing need for more restrooms, program areas, and gathering space. Currently, the Carriage House meeting room seats only 40 individuals and programs generally attract between 50-100 people. None of the three buildings on the property are handicapped accessible, storage is at capacity, and there are only two small public restrooms and one water fountain on site.
 

Our Need

Educational programs at Point of Honor have expanded to serve five grade levels of Lynchburg City School students each year, in addition to private and regional school children. Improvements to the structure would accommodate an entire grade level under-roof during inclement weather and allow for field trips during
winter months.

There is also an increased demand for the Point of Honor Carriage House as a meeting location, wedding venue, and for community events that cannot be served with the present facilities. In response to these conditions, the board decided to raise
$1 million dollars to create the Point of Honor Education Center.
 

The Proposed Expansion

The Education Center will be attached to the existing Carriage House along Norwood Street. It will provide an additional 1,700 square feet and will include a multi-purpose space, new restrooms, catering kitchen, and pantry. The Center was designed by Architectural Partners, Inc. of Lynchburg and uses design elements that match or are compatible with the existing structure.

A new elevator will connect the Gift Shop to the Education Center and an at-grade pathway will link the Center to parking on Norwood Street. With these enhancements, the facility will become ADA compliant. The current access directly into the Gift Shop will also remain so there will be several ways to comfortably access the facilities.

The second floor of the current Carriage House will be remodeled to offer new restrooms that can be accessed from outside and inside and two water fountains to better serve large groups. The remaining portion of the original meeting room space will provide much needed storage. The two existing restrooms on the first level will be retained.

Project to Date

As Point of Honor is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and is within the City of Lynchburg Daniel’s Hill Historic District, care has been taken to design the project to the highest historic preservation standards. Since the addition is on the grounds of Point of Honor, an archaeological investigation of the building and pathway footprint was done in March 2017. Archaeologists did a series of test squares and found that earlier townhouses that existed in that location in the late 19th - early 20th centuries had disturbed the ground, and no intact historic features remained.

The project has been formally or informally approved by POH, Inc., the Garden Club of Virginia Restoration Committee, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and the City of Lynchburg. The City administration is providing engineering assistance through the Public Works Department but cannot provide construction funds. In addition to asking the greater Lynchburg community for help in raising the funds necessary for construction, local and statewide foundations will be asked for grants.