New church planned for Rt. 50
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| An illustration of the new sanctuary. |
The Falls Church Anglican is planning to build a new sanctuary next to the office building it purchased in 2015 at 6565 Arlington Blvd. in Mason District. Work on a new parking garage is already under way.
The church’s administrative staff moved into offices on the third floor of the building, says David Andrukonis, chair of the Falls Church Anglican’s building committee. Youth ministries are occupying the basement level. Most of the other existing tenants – generally medical offices – will remain.
The new five-story parking deck, on the east side of the office building, will hold 500 cars, says Andrukonis. It should be completed in summer 2017.
The new sanctuary will be on the west side of the building on the site of a small parking deck, which will be torn down. Construction will start after the parking garage is completed and could be finished by the end of 2018.
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| The site of the new parking deck. |
The sanctuary will be about 30,000 square feet with seating for 900 people. The congregation has a little over 2,000 members. The plan calls for two principal services and a smaller, early-morning service every Sunday. The church is currently holding services in leased space at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington.
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| An aerial view of the site showing the new parking garage, office building, and sanctuary. |
It’s a by-right project, which means there was no need for a plan amendment or rezoning. The property is zoned C-3 (office district), which allows religious uses.
The Falls Church Anglican was formerly based at the historic Falls Church in the City of Falls Church but was forced to vacate that building in 2012 following a lengthy court battle. The more conservative wing of the congregation cut their ties with the Episcopal Church in 2006.
Thank you as always for keeping us up to date.
Great. Build, build, build.
Where are the anti Muslim NIMBY folks?
I'll tell you this much, if this church overtly discriminates against LGBT people, then NIMBY indeed!
Anglican churches are generally very LGBT accepting and friendly, much more than the Catholic Church.
This branch of the Anglican church is very conservative and is not accepting of the LGBT community. This is one of the reasons they broke away from the Episcopal Church and were then thrown out of The Falls Church
I am happy to see that someone is building in the Dump. They must have gotten a good deal on the land given that there aren't many developers that want to invest in Mason.
Oh great, just what Mason District needs: more haters and bigots. Why is it that Mason keeps getting all the crap Arlington doesn't want?
Falls Church Anglican is a pretty intolerant congregation.
I know what some people think about The Falls Church Anglican. But they are actively engaged in helping the homeless, assisting refugees, and working with internationals to teach job skills and ESOL and extend friendship. So whatever else, they're being good neighbors.
This church hates gays and it is why they split from their old church. I am not in support of this church at all. I'm sad that they are taking up so much space and that I have to be in close proximity when I take my daughter to Capital Area Pediatrics. They are not people, they are monsters.