It’s the culmination of a dream and the result of years of hard work and dedication.

Friends, members and supporters of the Historic Polegreen Foundation gathered on Tuesday, Sept. 21, to cut the ribbon on a new Visitors Center and Foundation Office at the historic church site off Rural Point Road.

It’s a major step in a project that began almost two decades ago when a select few recognized the importance of the hallowed ground and decided to take whatever means necessary to restore and preserve the site.

The man credited with the original vision of a restored Polegreen is Dr. Bob Bluford, who began his efforts in 1990. At the time, the site was a small subdivision and reclaiming it seemed like a long and arduous task. It was, but one Bluford refused to abandon, and, as supporters and volunteers increased, the project took place and gradually became a reality.

Foundation director Jay Johnston said the ribbon cutting was the fruit of the labor of many who have dedicated themselves to the preservation project.

“He (Bluford) has an attribute that many historians and visionaries don’t. He has an incredible ability to make things happen,” Johnston said.

Foundation executive director Del. Christopher Peace outlined the mission of the foundation and explained the importance of the site.

“This is a very special place. Anybody who comes here realizes that,” Peace said.

He said the opening of the Visitors Center is more of a beginning than the end of a project.

“If you think we are satisfied with what we’ve done to date, think again,” Peace said. “You can see the vision we have for future development and site enhancement. A lot has been accomplished over the past 20 years, mostly due to Dr. Bob Bluford and the board of directors,” he added.

Peace said the mission is ongoing and is dedicated to the memory of the site where Samuel Davies and the Hanover dissenters cast the first whispers of religious and civil freedoms, ideas that eventually fueled the American Revolution.

Davies preached his last sermon at Polegreen in 1759 to an estimated crowd of more than 4,000 people.

Dr. Douglas Hicks delivered the keynote address and explained how the seeds first sewn at Polegreen established a tradition of religious freedom long enjoyed in the United States.

“Great ideas like religious freedom have changed the world,” Hicks said. “On the terrain of critical ideas, we are standing at a world-shaping crossroads.”

Hicks said the legacy and history of Polegreen affirm that small ideas can produce huge universal impacts.

“We’re here to celebrate an idea — a seemingly small idea,” Hicks said.

He pointed out that the mere mention of religious dissention at the time was a belief “that could get you killed.”

The message of tolerance is even pertinent today, according to Hicks.

“Polegreen stands as a living crossroads for our contemporary world,” he said.

Hicks said the current controversy surrounding a proposed mosque in New York City is a perfect example of what the dissenters at Polegreen first addressed centuries ago.

“Now, at a crossroads, we don’t all have to agree on what a congregation in lower Manhattan should look like, and, perhaps, we don’t agree,” Hicks said. “But the great thing about religious freedom is that we don’t do congregations by opinion polling or by popular demand. We guarantee religious freedom.”

Why should people in Virginia care about an Islamic congregation in New York City? Hicks said that question could be answered in one word: “Polegreen.”