After 39 years, architectural firm Frazier Associates closes in Staunton
Frazier Associates completed approximately 3,500 projects across more than 100 Virginia communities and in over 20 states. The firm played a critical role in advancing historic preservation through its leadership in downtown revitalization, the development of design guidelines for historic districts, and the use of tax credits to rehabilitate historic structures.
'Throughout the office's long history, we have had an amazing mix of talented individuals working with us, and without them none of our accomplishments would have been possible,' said Kathy Frazier about her years at the firm.
'It has been an honor for all of us at Frazier Associates to have been a small part of the movement to strengthen and grow the preservation ethic state-and-nationwide from the last quarter of the twentieth and first quarter of the twenty-first centuries,' said Bill Frazier.
Founded in 1986 by Kathy Frazier, FAIA, and Bill Frazier, FAICP, a historic architect and an architectural historian andplanner respectively, Frazier Associates offered services ranging from residential design to large-scale complexadaptive-use projects of historic structures. The firm served as the official architectural partner for the Virginia Main Street Program, providing façade design services to fifty communities across the state, along with streetscape plans and public space designs. The firm also became a national leader in community-wide wayfinding sign systems, with projects spanning the southeastern United States to the west coast.
In the early 2000s, Frazier Associates introduced photogrammetry services, a pioneering digital method fordocumenting historic buildings. Major projects included the U.S. Supreme Court, the Virginia State Capital, the University of Virginia's Rotunda, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, and James Madison's Montpelier.
Staunton and Shenandoah Valley initiatives
In Staunton and the Shenandoah Valley, the firm completed numerous projects that contributed to the preservation and revitalization of the region's architectural character. Most recently, this included the adaptive reuse of the Staunton Innovation Hub, a coworking space recognized with a Historic Staunton Foundation Commercial Rehabilitation Award.
Other local projects include the award-winning New Street Parking Garage; the restoration and adaptive use of R. R. Smith Center for History & Art, the Old Y Lofts and the American Hotel project.
The firm also donated services to a range of community initiatives — creating historic design guidelines, a downtown streetscape plan, visitor maps and interpretative signage throughout the city. It developed a historic architecture exhibit at the Smith Center and the design of the new Field House at the Staunton High School football field. Frazier Associates also led the creation of a downtown service district that provides funding for the Staunton Downtown Development Association, and the principals initiated a campaign to halt the demolition of nine downtown historic properties for a new courthouse building.
More: Augusta County Fair is a Valley tradition. Here's the schedule to make the most of your fun
Dedicated volunteers to the Staunton community and beyond
Other volunteer activities of the Frazier's included both principals being Presidents of Historic Staunton Foundation as well as receiving lifetime achievement awards from that organization. Bill Frazier also served on the Staunton Planning Commission, on various City of Staunton committees studying the future of downtown, and on the boards of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, the Staunton Augusta Art Center, the Downtown Staunton Development Association and the Staunton Creative Community Fund.
He also founded the Staunton Augusta Farmers Market, was chair of the Friends of the Sears Hill Bridge Committeeto save that historic structure and was co-chair of the Gypsy Hill Park Gateway Enhancement Committee. He also was on the boards of Preservation Action in Washington D.C. and the Virginia Downtown Development Association and was appointed by Governor Tim Kaine to the Preservation Advisory Committee for Fort Monroe.
Kathy Frazier' volunteer activities included being on the Design Committee of the Staunton Downtown Development Association and on the boards of the historic Thornrose Cemetery, The Augusta Garden Club, and Hunter McGuire School. She was also a member of the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church and an advisory board member of Mary Baldwin University. At the state level, she was on the board of the Virginia Downtown Development Association, the Preservation Alliance of Virginia and the Restoration Committee of the Garden Club of Virginia.
Archives to be preserved by Virginia Department of Historic Resource
Though Frazier Associates has formally closed, a significant portion of the firm's archive will be preserved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in Richmond, where it will remain accessible to the public, researchers and preservation professionals. The firm's influence continues in preserved buildings, revitalized main streets and the enduring design values it brought to Virginia and communities across the country.
Frazier Associates' awards and recognition
Over the years, Frazier Associates received more than 100 design and preservation awards, including the 2017 T. David Fitz-Gibbon Architecture Firm Award, the American Institute of Architects highest honor in Virginia. Other notable awards include a National Palladio Award, Outstanding Contributions for Historic Preservation ThroughoutVirginia by the Garden Club of America, the Mary Mason Williams Award for Contributions to Historic Preservation in Virginia by APVA Preservation Virginia, and a Presidential Citation for Achievements in Downtown Staunton by the Preservation Alliance of Virginia and a letter of appreciation from the City Council of Staunton. Its work was widely featured in publications such as Traditional Building, Southern Living, Virginia Living, Urban Land, Architectural Record and Preservation Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
More: Augusta school board candidate charged with misdemeanor assault
More: Children's theater at Blackfriars, live concert at Wayne, wildlife, grants and more: THE DIGEST
Monique Calello is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas always welcome. Connect with her at mcalello@newsleader.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Architectural firm Frazier Associates closes in Staunton, Virginia
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
24-07-2025
- Forbes
The Greenway Institute – Making Transformative Engineering Education Affordable
Aerial View of the Greeway Institute Campus in Montpelier, Vermont The Greenway Institute - a new university in Vermont - is making engineering education more affordable. Several other new engineering and STEM-focused institutions have recently been founded across the US, but without the same focus on revolutionizing the business model of higher education. Olin College of Engineering, founded in 1997 with gifts of $460 million from the F. W. Olin Foundation, was one of the first of these new institutions and developed a new curriculum centered on project-based learning and user-centered design. The Roux Institute at Northeastern University launched in Portland, Maine in 2020, backed by tech entrepreneur David Roux and by the Harold Alfond Foundation, who each contributed $100-million gifts. The Roux Institute focuses on graduate education infused with AI, and in 2024 opened its new campus at the former B&M Beans Factory to be a base for co-op work-study projects that can help transform the local economy. The newest addition is a STEM-focused higher education institution planned for Bentonville, Arkansas, announced at the 2025 Heartland Summit by members of the Walton family, and will offer an education that integrates STEM and business for its planned 500 students in its first undergraduate class, with tuition fully covered in the initial years. Building a University Economically Another new entrant in this space is The Greenway Institute. In contrast with Olin, Roux, and Walton, Greenway was founded without a large endowment or major gift and provides a case study of how engineering education can more efficiently and economically serve students and society. The initial seed funding for investigating the concept of Greenway came from corporate sponsors and a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation in collaboration with Elizabethtown College to develop and launch the Greenway Center for Equity and Sustainability (GCES) in Engineering in Vermont. The NSF grant enabled Elizabethtown and Greenway to pilot new educational approaches within an ABET-accredited engineering program and have set the stage for the opening of a standalone engineering college in Vermont. Greenway Founders and their Vision Greenway's founders include Troy McBride, Rebecca Holcombe and Mark Somerville. Troy McBride, a Greentech entrepreneur and former engineering professor at Elizabethtown College, began thinking about Greenway College over a decade ago. Rebecca Holcombe, a former Secretary of Education of Vermont, brought extensive experience in educational policy and a commitment to better serve historically marginalized students. In 2024, Mark Somerville, former Provost of Olin College of Engineering, was appointed as the founding president and co-founder. As a former founding faculty member, dean of faculty, and provost at Olin College, he brings 23 years of experience in transforming undergraduate engineering education. Somerville also brings a deep knowledge of engineering with a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, and from studying physics at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. The Greenway Model Greenway's approach addresses three key problems in engineering education: affordability, engagement, and connection to real-world engineering work. Two years of Greenway education are centered on hands-on engineering projects that target learning objectives across multiple courses simultaneously, acquiring math, science, and engineering skills while discovering real-world applications. Mark Somerville, in an interview, pointed out that 'learning engineering by practicing engineering is both much more effective and a whole lot more fun.' Greenway's model also includes two years of 'work-integrated learning' in which students work in engineering jobs, while simultaneously receiving high-touch mentoring and support from Greenway faculty. Somerville observed that 'instead of just sitting on a campus, students are actually out working and doing real things that matter to real people – and if you couple that with intentional reflection, you get incredibly powerful learning.' This structure also makes the Greenway education 'radically affordable,' both because it drives down cost and simultaneously enables student earnings. At the same time, it ensures alignment between Greenway's curriculum and current work in industry. Building Maturity and Professionalism in Students Greenway's approach is intended to help students develop interpersonal and workplace skills usually only found after graduating from college. Somerville notes that 'while there's enormous growth that happens in the first two years of residential education, we do our students a disservice when we cloister them for four years.' Drawing on and expanding the idea of 'co-op' internships pioneered at the University of Waterloo, Northeastern University, and the new Iron Range Engineering program in Minnesota, Greenway's model has students living in the world and working for two years during their education, while simultaneously getting support from mentors from Greenway. This is more of an intentional transition to the 'real world', and it produces 'the kinds of outcomes that only come from an authentic work environment with coaching and mentoring,' according to Somerville. The common 'drink from a fire hose' form of engineering education is not only 'a sadistic metaphor,' says Somerville, but also 'assumes that the most important outcome of an engineering degree is to acquire a whole bunch of specific technical content knowledge. That doesn't make sense in a post-AI world.' Greenway's approach posits that 'content knowledge acquisition may not be nearly as important as learning to learn, habits of mind, and the processes and ways of approaching things that engineers employ.' A Vermont Prototype Greenway plans to admit its first class in the Fall of 2027, on the former Vermont College of Fine Arts campus in Montpelier, Vermont. According to Somerville, 'Vermont's a great place to prototype - there's the necessary infrastructure, a growing Greentech sector that's hungry for employees, and a real need to create more attractive educational options.' Somerville notes, though, this is just the start: he frames the Vermont campus as 'a first full prototype.' Greenway's intent is to scale to multiple locations across the US, once the model is proven. A More Sustainable Business Model for Higher Education The rising cost of higher education, the student debt crisis, and the increasing numbers of colleges closing were all important factors in developing the Greenway model. According to Somerville, 'The key move with Greenway is asking the question, how might you design the education to be synergistic with the business model?' Greenway's new business model 'really changes your value proposition and your cost structure.' 'Between making the education 50% out in the real world, and questioning the idea of the amenities arms race, the institution is simply a lot cheaper to run.' Somerville says that at the same time, the model helps students' bottom lines as well: since they are working for two full years while at college, 'instead of students waiting four years before any real earnings, they'll be making good money for half of their program – about a hundred thousand dollars on average,' according to Somerville. The result is 'something that both is unlike anything that is out there and that at the same time builds out of a set of ideas and components that are actually proven in the world,' says Somerville, who says Greenway asks the question, 'how can we maintain the humanity of education, but do so in a way that actually is affordable?' With the arrival of the Greenway Institute and other new engineering institutions, we will see how these questions are answered in the coming years.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Yahoo
After 39 years, architectural firm Frazier Associates closes in Staunton
Frazier Associates, a nationally recognized architecture and planning firm, announced in a press release it closed in June 2025 after 39 years of practice. Since its inception, the firm operated out of the historic Trotter Tavern on North Augusta Street — a ca. 1802 log structure it restored in 1988 and expanded in 2003. Frazier Associates completed approximately 3,500 projects across more than 100 Virginia communities and in over 20 states. The firm played a critical role in advancing historic preservation through its leadership in downtown revitalization, the development of design guidelines for historic districts, and the use of tax credits to rehabilitate historic structures. 'Throughout the office's long history, we have had an amazing mix of talented individuals working with us, and without them none of our accomplishments would have been possible,' said Kathy Frazier about her years at the firm. 'It has been an honor for all of us at Frazier Associates to have been a small part of the movement to strengthen and grow the preservation ethic state-and-nationwide from the last quarter of the twentieth and first quarter of the twenty-first centuries,' said Bill Frazier. Founded in 1986 by Kathy Frazier, FAIA, and Bill Frazier, FAICP, a historic architect and an architectural historian andplanner respectively, Frazier Associates offered services ranging from residential design to large-scale complexadaptive-use projects of historic structures. The firm served as the official architectural partner for the Virginia Main Street Program, providing façade design services to fifty communities across the state, along with streetscape plans and public space designs. The firm also became a national leader in community-wide wayfinding sign systems, with projects spanning the southeastern United States to the west coast. In the early 2000s, Frazier Associates introduced photogrammetry services, a pioneering digital method fordocumenting historic buildings. Major projects included the U.S. Supreme Court, the Virginia State Capital, the University of Virginia's Rotunda, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, and James Madison's Montpelier. Staunton and Shenandoah Valley initiatives In Staunton and the Shenandoah Valley, the firm completed numerous projects that contributed to the preservation and revitalization of the region's architectural character. Most recently, this included the adaptive reuse of the Staunton Innovation Hub, a coworking space recognized with a Historic Staunton Foundation Commercial Rehabilitation Award. Other local projects include the award-winning New Street Parking Garage; the restoration and adaptive use of R. R. Smith Center for History & Art, the Old Y Lofts and the American Hotel project. The firm also donated services to a range of community initiatives — creating historic design guidelines, a downtown streetscape plan, visitor maps and interpretative signage throughout the city. It developed a historic architecture exhibit at the Smith Center and the design of the new Field House at the Staunton High School football field. Frazier Associates also led the creation of a downtown service district that provides funding for the Staunton Downtown Development Association, and the principals initiated a campaign to halt the demolition of nine downtown historic properties for a new courthouse building. More: Augusta County Fair is a Valley tradition. Here's the schedule to make the most of your fun Dedicated volunteers to the Staunton community and beyond Other volunteer activities of the Frazier's included both principals being Presidents of Historic Staunton Foundation as well as receiving lifetime achievement awards from that organization. Bill Frazier also served on the Staunton Planning Commission, on various City of Staunton committees studying the future of downtown, and on the boards of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum, the Staunton Augusta Art Center, the Downtown Staunton Development Association and the Staunton Creative Community Fund. He also founded the Staunton Augusta Farmers Market, was chair of the Friends of the Sears Hill Bridge Committeeto save that historic structure and was co-chair of the Gypsy Hill Park Gateway Enhancement Committee. He also was on the boards of Preservation Action in Washington D.C. and the Virginia Downtown Development Association and was appointed by Governor Tim Kaine to the Preservation Advisory Committee for Fort Monroe. Kathy Frazier' volunteer activities included being on the Design Committee of the Staunton Downtown Development Association and on the boards of the historic Thornrose Cemetery, The Augusta Garden Club, and Hunter McGuire School. She was also a member of the vestry of Trinity Episcopal Church and an advisory board member of Mary Baldwin University. At the state level, she was on the board of the Virginia Downtown Development Association, the Preservation Alliance of Virginia and the Restoration Committee of the Garden Club of Virginia. Archives to be preserved by Virginia Department of Historic Resource Though Frazier Associates has formally closed, a significant portion of the firm's archive will be preserved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in Richmond, where it will remain accessible to the public, researchers and preservation professionals. The firm's influence continues in preserved buildings, revitalized main streets and the enduring design values it brought to Virginia and communities across the country. Frazier Associates' awards and recognition Over the years, Frazier Associates received more than 100 design and preservation awards, including the 2017 T. David Fitz-Gibbon Architecture Firm Award, the American Institute of Architects highest honor in Virginia. Other notable awards include a National Palladio Award, Outstanding Contributions for Historic Preservation ThroughoutVirginia by the Garden Club of America, the Mary Mason Williams Award for Contributions to Historic Preservation in Virginia by APVA Preservation Virginia, and a Presidential Citation for Achievements in Downtown Staunton by the Preservation Alliance of Virginia and a letter of appreciation from the City Council of Staunton. Its work was widely featured in publications such as Traditional Building, Southern Living, Virginia Living, Urban Land, Architectural Record and Preservation Magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. More: Augusta school board candidate charged with misdemeanor assault More: Children's theater at Blackfriars, live concert at Wayne, wildlife, grants and more: THE DIGEST Monique Calello is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas always welcome. Connect with her at mcalello@ Support local journalism and subscribe to us at This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Architectural firm Frazier Associates closes in Staunton, Virginia Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Yahoo
Missy Morris appointed as Rocky Mount's main street director
ROCKY MOUNT, Va. (WFXR) – On Tuesday, June 3, Rocky Mount and local non-profit, Community Partnership, announced the hiring of a new Main Street Executive Director. 'This is an exciting step forward for Rocky Mount,' said Town Manager, Robert J. Wood. 'With a dedicated Main Street Executive Director in place, we are better positioned to support our local businesses and continue the momentum we have established in our CBD.' Missy Morris will lead local efforts to promote and grow business in the uptown and downtown areas as part of the Virginia Main Street Program. Morris has a background in events, management, and operations and a 'talent for bringing people together and a deep passion for community-building.' 'Rocky Mount's Central Business District is experiencing exciting momentum, and it's a privilege to step into this role at such a pivotal time,' said Morris. 'I look forward to working with community members, businesses, and partners to help build on the ongoing efforts that are making our downtown and uptown a more vibrant, welcoming, and thriving place for everyone.' Roanoke City Council passes initiative to help combat homelessness Rocky Mount has been accepted into Virginia's Main Street's second tier, Mobilizing Main Street, of the state organization's three-tier program, which gives the community access to needed resources and technical assistance to develop the local economy and promote growth. Zach Wimmer, Community Partnership President, said, 'Given Missy's background and enthusiasm, coupled with the support of the Virginia Main Street organization and the Town of Rocky Mount, Community Partnership is in a great place to make a far greater impact for Rocky Mount's Central Business District. With these partners, we will be able to impact the economic prosperity and vibrancy of this community in ways we never could have done on our own.' For more information about Community Partnership or CBD growth efforts in Rocky Mount, please contact Missy Morris, mmorris@ or 540-488-2323. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
