Construction projects at both Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute threaten historic buildings, but the two have inspired unequal reactions from the Lexington community.

Lexington residents have spoken out against the proposed demolitions at VMI, but Washington and Lee’s project has been met with silence from advocacy groups.

VMI finalized its concept for a new “center for advancement” in 2021, according to the institute’s facilities master plan. To build the new structure, VMI will tear down three existing buildings on Letcher Avenue, two of them recognized by the Historic Lexington Foundation (HLF).

HLF President Dee Joyce-Hayes said her organization has listed both the Cabell House and Neikirk Hall as “jewels” of Lexington. The Cabell House dates back to 1867 and looks about the same as it would have 150 years ago, according to VMI’s preservation plan. Joyce-Hayes said Neikirk Hall was also built sometime in the late 1800s.

“The disappearance of familiar buildings can be bittersweet,” Communications Officer Scott Belliveau wrote in an article on the VMI alumni website.

Washington and Lee’s Red House isn’t as old, but it has still been around for more than 65 years. The building, which now serves as an LGBTQ resource center, was constructed between 1956 and 1958, according to the W&L ArchivesSpace website.

The Red House would also have to be destroyed to make room for a new building, according to previous reporting by the Phi. The university first announced its plans to construct an institutional history museum in 2018, but it only revealed that its plans would affect the Red House this fall.

In the university’s announcement of the construction project in The Columns, it never directly referred to the Red House.

“The university intends to build the new museum on an area of campus located near the intersection of Jefferson Street and Washington Street, at the northern end of what is currently the Corral parking lot,” Washington and Lee’s news office wrote. The area mentioned includes the Red House.

On its website, the Historic Lexington Foundation describes itself as a nonprofit that mainly focuses on preserving historic architecture—including buildings at VMI and Washington and Lee. But HLF has addressed the two demolition projects differently.

Last month, former HLF director Don Hasfurther published an opinion piece in the Lexington News-Gazette about the proposed VMI demolition. He titled it “Residents Asked To Join Fight For Houses,” and he said it was written on behalf of HLF.

“Demolition is part of a plan to expand the current alumni complex. This will happen unless the city of Lexington and its citizens make a concerted effort to dissuade VMI of its folly,” Hasfurther said in the article. “Please join Historic Lexington Foundation in its effort to save these historic Lexington structures.”

But Joyce-Hayes said HLF has adopted a hands-off approach towards the potential Red House demolition.

“It’s just sad that it has to go,” Joyce-Hayes said. She said the organization will probably not try to intervene.

Joyce-Hayes couldn’t explain why HLF has treated the two projects differently. But she said that for her, the difference is a matter of aesthetics.

The Cabell House and Neikirk Hall “soften the approach” to the VMI campus and promote “an attractive atmosphere overall,” Joyce-Hayes said. Coming from the direction of Washington and Lee’s campus, they are some of the first buildings visitors see.

But the Red House is fenced in by other structures, Joyce-Hayes said. Both the Hillel House and Grace Episcopal Church sit between Washington Street and the building, which Joyce-Hayes said lessens its impact on visitors.

Advocacy organizations have offered resistance to the university’s construction projects in the past. Local conservative group The Generals Redoubt lists advancing university history as a primary goal on its website. And the group purchased billboard space to criticize a new wall blocking off a statue of Robert E. Lee in the University Chapel last year, according to previous reporting by the Phi.

But The Generals Redoubt has published nothing on its website about the institutional history museum project since the museum’s proposed location was revealed in September.

The Lexington Architectural Board has also focused more attention on VMI’s project. The Cabell House and Neikirk Hall have appeared in the board’s minutes for each of its past three meetings. The board also wrote a letter to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources protesting the demolition.

“On behalf of the Lexington Architectural Review Board, I am writing to express our profound disappointment with Virginia Military Institute’s proposal,” Chair Arthur Bartenstein wrote last month. And like Joyce-Hayes, the board said VMI’s buildings were valuable for aesthetic reasons.

“These houses, part of the Letcher Hyphen, have witnessed 150 years of VMI history and continue to provide an important visual transition between the campuses of VMI and Washington and Lee,” Bartenstein wrote.

The Architectural Review Board has not mentioned the Red House in its minutes since Washington and Lee unveiled its plans for the institutional history museum in September.