Page 92 - Fall 2019

New storefronts on the Barnhart Building. Photo © Nathan Webb, AIA

Barnhart Building
before renovation.

Courtesy of Reader & Swartz Architects
Renovated Weaver Building. Photo © Nathan Webb, AIA New restaurant space. Photo © Nathan Webb, AIA

Citation for Urban Catalyst century ago by New York architect John Sloan), and a slightly less
historic former garage and auction house (the Barnhart Building).
Vibe Main Street Properties In the Weaver building, Reader & Swartz refreshed the storefront
Front Royal, VA windows, and divided the ground-floor space into an art gallery
and a Thai restaurant. On the opposite side of the street, the
Reader & Swartz Architects Barnhart Building, which had infilled a former gas station setback
with a medium-sized gaming parlor and auction house, has been
Civil/Structural Engineers: Painter + Lewis, PLC subdivided into four separate storefronts, including a mountain
General Contractor: Whittington Construction Co., Inc. supply store, a bakery, and a brewery, each with its own identity to
further enliven the streetscape. In the Barnhart Building, Reader &
Front Royal, Virginia, could be classified as one of those small Swartz incorporated the industrial feel of the former garage for the
towns on the way between here and there: A place close to the new beer-making facility.
Appalachian Trail, where hikers occasionally meander off-path to “Our clients thought that if they did enough things, they
find a shower or a real bed, or where people touring Skyline Drive would start to jumpstart essentially the whole downtown, which is
may pause to refresh and refuel. But beyond that, the town of roughly I think is happening now,” said principal Charles Swartz, FAIA,
15,000 has seen a decline over recent years, with multiple vacant LEED AP. “People are bored with malls and shopping centers,
storefronts contributing to Front Royal’s retail rental rates being and you know you can buy stuff online now. So making things
among the lowest in Warren County. Two recent developments in that are eccentric or a good experience just seems to be a value
Front Royal’s downtown aim to revitalize the area, turning vacant that these small towns and old buildings can bring.”
properties into thriving small businesses that will draw locals and The two building refurbishments add six new businesses to
visitors alike. Front Royal’s retail landscape, with additional office space on
Seeing vacancy as opportunity, local developer Vibe Properties the Weaver Building’s second level. Where too-large storefronts
enlisted Reader & Swartz Architects—a firm located in the similarly sat empty, now the newly reconfigured spaces provide more
small town of Winchester, Virginia—to reinvigorate a historic former manageable leasing opportunities for local small businesses to thrive.
department store (the Weaver Building, designed more than a

90 URBAN AMENITIES