Family Graveyard Underneath Potential Ballston Development Site Could Be Deemed Historic
A plan to build 132 units on the site of an old Ballston church—where the remains of the neighborhood's namesake, Robert Ball, may be buried—could be blocked by a historic designation.
The County Board will vote later this year on whether to designate the Ball family burial ground a historic district after the historic review board voted in favor of a historic designation, ARLnow reports.
Owners of the Central United Methodist Church created the Ballston Housing Corp and filed a site plan application to build an eight-story building with 55 affordable and 77 market-rate apartments. The building would include a new house of worship for the church, a daycare facility and other charity functions.
No one knows whether the 150-year-old family graveyard on the site still has human remains underneath or if they were moved during previous construction on the site. The church wants the state to investigate the burial ground with hopes it will allow the project to move forward. [ARL]
