Virginia Rep’s Northside property being eyed for Hindu temple

A proposal to convert the former Scottish Rite Temple on Hermitage Road into a Hindu religious center would include an expansion of the existing building on the site. (City documents)

For its next act, Virginia Repertory Theatre’s Northside performing arts center could become a Hindu temple.

The Richmond Commission of Architectural Review is scheduled next week to take a first look at a proposal to modify and expand Virginia Rep’s facility at 4204 Hermitage Road to be used as a Hindu temple, or mandir.

Behind the proposal is the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Route 1 in Chesterfield, which is affiliated with the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, denomination of Hinduism, and refers to itself as BAPS Richmond.

BAPS Richmond is weighing an acquisition of the Virginia Rep property, and has filed for a certificate of appropriateness with the architectural commission to see whether it would be allowed to expand the facilities on the Hermitage Road site and make modifications that would reflect Hindu architectural design traditions.

BAPS Richmond is seeking approval for canopies that would be built at the corners of the building’s roof, as well as patterned roof trim and garland arches between the building’s existing columns. The building had been a Scottish Rite Temple before Virginia Rep’s purchase of the property about three years ago. As part of the proposed project, the building’s Freemason symbols would be replaced.

“The applicant’s primary concern is the presence of Scottish Rite Temple symbols at the cornice, including regularly-spaced double-headed eagle medallions. As these symbols reflect a different religious tradition, BAPS Richmond requests the opportunity to replace them with Akshar Deri symbols that reflect the Hindu religious tradition,” according to the application materials.

A comparison of the existing building (top photo) and how it would look with some of the proposed modifications.

Colors and materials for the new elements would be in line with the existing appearance of the building. BAPS Richmond says it intends to modify the building in a way that balances its needs to create a venue appropriate for religious services and its desire to blend into the surrounding neighborhood.

The Hindu temple would also like to add a 7,600-square-foot addition onto the building to be used for worship services and a gym. The existing 50,000-square-foot property features a 650-seat theater, 400-plus-seat banquet hall and office space on a 5-acre site.

The front of the former Scottish Rite Temple on Hermitage Road as it would appear with some proposed alterations that would be part of a conversion of the property into a Hindu temple.

Though within the Hermitage Road Old and Historic District, the Scottish Rite Temple property is considered a noncontributing building to the district because it was built in 1969, after the period of nearby homes deemed of historic value.

The project is up for a conceptual review by the city commission July 22. A final review and vote on the proposal by the commission is expected later.

Catherine Easterling of consulting firm Sadler & Whitehead is representing BAPS Richmond in its application. BAPS did not respond to an inquiry from BizSense by press time.

Virginia Rep has been seeking to sell the Hermitage Road property for months as part of a broader effort to financially restructure its operations. The theater group canceled one of its shows earlier this year after a sale of the property fell through unexpectedly. Virginia Rep didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.

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