By George Lehnigk

This spring, the local grassroots organization, Options for Oakton, hosted a community meeting to address a spate of proposals to redevelop parcels in Oakton, including the 33-acre AT&T site located at the intersection of Chain Bridge and Jermantown Roads.  Residents’ input was sought on four topics: traffic concerns, acceptable densities, impacts on existing green space and the rising pressures on maintaining the character of Oakton.  One of the attendees posed this question: Does Oakton, which is officially designated as merely a “Census designated place” consisting of a handful of zip codes and separating the Town of Vienna and the City of Fairfax,  even have a ‘character’?

This question has come up in my discussions with local friends and neighbors over the years.  My longtime acquaintances considered the answer self-evident.  Even less than 30 years ago, Oakton radiated from its historic center at the intersection of Chain Bridge and Hunter Mill Roads, Oakton reflected the deep history of a Northern Virginia village. 

When I moved to Oakton in 1992, the Chain Bridge / Hunter Mill intersection was marked by the white-steepled Oakton Methodist Church and the storied Appalachian Outfitters - a landmark camping store which had repurposed and incorporated older structures  including the 19th-Century Oakton Schoolhouse and the village’s former general store, together forming the pillars of a village community.  Around the school and the store stood several of the old Oakton oak trees – not Oakton’s namesake tree, which was taken down in 1967, or its sister tree, which still serves as Oakton’s talisman at the Hunter Mill Road entrance to the Giant shopping center, but imposing ones, nonetheless.  The Oakton Post Office stood just across the street.   I and anyone else passing through that intersection would effortlessly witness the character of Oakton, at least for a moment. 

Appalachian Outfitters is gone; in its place now stands a Capital One Bank.  There is a placard at the bank’s entrance commemorating the above-noted history.  The Schoolhouse, thanks to the efforts of Oakton residents, was secured to a flatbed before Appalachian Outfitters was razed and transported three-tenths of a mile in 2007 to its current location in Oakton Park.   The Post Office was closed and reopened at its current location near I-66.  The Oakton Methodist Church is still visible to the attentive eye but has lost prominence to the larger, newer sanctuary that adjoins it.

The historic character of Oakton is evaporating into a scene filled with oversized interstate signs,  chain stores, and cookie-cutter housing, with data centers looming.  What made Oakton unique to the eye is being transformed into yet another characterless Northern Virginia outer suburb.  Is it any surprise, then, for residents to question ‘the character of Oakton’?

For those of us who wish Oakton to rediscover its past and reinvigorate its sense of community, our best option now is to preserve what we have left and restore what we can.  The AT&T site is facing a precarious future and is our most urgent opportunity.  Over the past several decades, notably during the pandemic, the site has become an outdoor refuge for the community to escape the din of suburban Northern Virginia living.  Newer residents of Oakton often point to this site as exemplifying the character of Oakton.

Favoring community over convenience is, I hope, coming back into fashion.  Three months ago, I was invited to see the urban design projects presented by students of this past semester’s Site Planning Course at the Annandale campus of Northern Virginia Community College. The class selected the AT&T parcel as a ‘real-world’ case study to analyze.  According to Professor Nazanin Saidi,  a  central principle guiding the project was “preserving history and a sense of place.”  Specific concepts proposed by the students included repurposing all or part of the award-winning AT&T building itself for community and/or educational spaces, housing options for the elderly and even vertical greenhouse gardening under the insulated glass gallery that forms the spine of the building.  Even in strategies in which the building was not saved, emphasis was placed on abundant green spaces, mixed uses and community gathering places.

Developers and County officials could rescue the character of Oakton if willing to heed the voices of planners, designers and architects who are committed to redevelopment with deference to history, regional context, and community.[i]  These are the ingredients that allow character to flourish.  

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[i] Those who wish to explore Oakton’s history in greater detail need not venture far.  Oakton Library has a shelf of materials featuring  “The Story of Oakton, Virginia: 1758-1990” by D’Anne A. Evans, on the back side of the Information Desk.   The Virginia Room at the City of Fairfax Regional Library has further copies of this book as well as numerous folders of newspaper clippings, reports, brochures, etc. on specific Oakton properties and historical events.  In addition, the Greater Oakton Community Association (GOCA) and the Hunter Mill Defense League offer splendid events and resources for interested community members.