Weekend Discussion: What Should Happen to Former API HQ?

After testimony from state historic and architectural experts, the Fairfax County Planning Commission admits it did not fully investigate the historic significance of the former American Press Institute Building in Reston.

The building, which housed the API from 1974 to 2012, was designed by famous architect Marcel Breuer and is the only Breuer building in Virginia.

Breuer’s also designed UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and buildings at New York University and Vassar College, among others.

Other advocates for rescuing the building have pointed out the historical significance for leaders in media and politics.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission heard the pleas for historic preservation — sort of. They send Sekas Homes‘ proposal for 34 townhomes and 10 condos to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Thursday with a recommendation for denial.

Many Reston residents have suggested that the county try and buy it from its current owner and repurpose the more than 48,000-square-foot building as a new Reston Regional Library. A new library is planned for the Reston Town Center North area, with $10 million of county bond money set aside to build it.

While we wait for the supervisors’ vision of what should happen to the four-acre parcel along Sunrise Valley Drive, let’s hear your ideas.