Public restrooms could be a boon to Rippon Lodge

Rippon Lodge has everything a bride could want.

A beautifully restored 18th century home, lush open fields for an outdoor ceremony and a distant view of the sprawling Potomac River below.

There is just one problem: There are no public restrooms.

But, thanks in part to a transfer of funding from other historical projects, Rippon will be acquiring water and sewer and installing handicap-accessible restrooms by next spring.

On Tuesday, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors approved the allocation of $692,000, a portion of which also will help to restore the Brentsville jail and to renovate several buildings at Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park.

At Rippon, according to Historic Preservation Division Chief Brendon Hanafin, the top complaint from visitors is the lack of restrooms.

He said the lodge received 10 requests to rent the property for events last year. However, because only one actually rented the lodge, that amounted to a net loss of $9,000 for the county.

Staffers used pressurized water from the on-site well in their current office setup adjacent to the lodge.

“We have portajohns, and that is not very appetizing to brides for weddings,” Hanafin said.

The county purchased the lodge in 2000, started renovation in 2002 and opened it up for tours in 2007.

As part of the additional funding, the county also will be improving the lodge’s on-site trail system, which connects to the much-publicized Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

That segment will cost $59,000 and could mean the construction of a blinking yellow light and crosswalk from the park across Blackburn Road into the entrance of the lodge property, Hanafin said.

The renovations at both Bristoe and Brentsville are scheduled to be done by the spring of 2013. Initially, county staff did not anticipate enough money to design, stabilize and renovate the Brentsville jail, which dates to 1822.

However, leftover money from renovations at Ben Lomond Historic Site and the decision to hold off on land acquisitions and a renovation project at Bennett School will allow the completion of that project, Hanafin said.

The Brentsville jail is part of a complex that includes the courthouse, Union Church and Haislip/Hall farmhouse, all of which have been restored.

Funding for Bristoe will go toward the creation of a museum and to spruce up two homes that will be occupied by county police officers.

The officers will help maintain and patrol the property on their own time while paying inexpensive rent that will go into escrow for the purchase of workforce housing, Hanafin said.

In other business, the supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday afternoon in support of the regulation of abortion clinics in Virginia. The vote was 6-0. Democratic Supervisors Frank J. Principi of the Woodbridge District and John D. Jenkins, who represents the Neabsco District, abstained, saying the matter was a state, not a local, issue.

The resolution by Supervisor John T. Stirrup, R-Gainesville, comes on the heels of one passed by the Manassas City Council.

The impetus for both resolutions came after state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an opinion in August stating that Virginia has the authority to write regulations governing such clinics, one of which is in Manassas.

Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, requested the opinion from Cuccinelli, who lives in Nokesville.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-530-3904.