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Final Public Hearings Set on Proposed Wal-Mart Super Center Next to Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park

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The Old Germann Plank Road Trace runs near the site of the Wilderness Tavern on the Wilderness Battlefield at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Wal-Mart is proposing a massive development on the edge of the battlefield. NPS photo.

If you've some thoughts on whether Wal-Mart should be allowed to develop a Supercenter on hallowed ground next to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, you have two last opportunities: tonight and Monday night.

The so-called "Wilderness Walmart" proposal is to be discussed by the Orange County (Virginia) Planning Commission tonight at 7 p.m., and by the county's Board of Supervisors on Monday at 6 p.m. Project opponents say these hearings represent the last opportunity to tell Orange County that the Wilderness Battlefield is no place for big box sprawl.

The Civil War Preservation Trust plans to have an information table set up one hour before each of the hearings. Both of the hearings will be held in the Orange County High School Auditorium at 201 Selma Road in Orange, Virginia.

Wal-Mart's plan is to develop a 53-to-55-acre tract of land just north of the Wilderness Corner intersection in Orange, Virginia. Part of the proposed development would hold a store covering nearly 140,000 square feet, with enough room left over for additional retail outlets. While that land is not part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, it is, historically, part of the Wilderness Battlefield.

According to the National Park Service, the Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5-6, 1864, with troops under both Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee engaged. "It was the beginning of the Overland Campaign, the bloodiest campaign in American history and the turning point in the war in the Eastern Theatre," notes the agency.

Comments

Although I have never been there and cannot picture the area, my advice to those concerned is if you can't stop it from coming, dictate the building code within proximity to the historic site. Require a certain percentage of green space per square foot of parking, require some unique facade to the building, require smaller signage restrictions including height, etc... These code restrictions have to be passed by the Planning commission. If you wait until after they give the go ahead, it will be too late. Some times the restrictions are to costly for even Wal-mart to want to continue because they like to make a cookie cutter store just like their last one. Worst case its slightly less an eye sore than no restrictions. Maybe this has already been done...just my thought.


We all need to learn to live with development. It is a driver of our economy. However, this project is a travesty that would irreversibly destroy a significant part of the heritage that makes our country what it is. This would be an insult to the people who gave their lives on this ground fighting for what they believed in.

This impact goes well beyond the specific ground where the Wal Mart will be built. The views from the existing parts of the preserved battlefield will also be impaired. No longer will visitors be able to come here and get a true feel for what the terrain and ground looked like during the battle of the Wilderness. Of all major battles of the Civil War, the Wilderness is where terrain and vegetation were perhaps the most significant factors. Light pollution will forever change the night sky emitting a glow from the parking lots and signs for the commercial development. Increased traffic will produce noise, lower air quality, and further damage any opportunity for a positive visitor experience to a valuable cultural resource. Views and what they invoke in our souls are often the number one reason people give for visiting National Park areas.

The local economy of tourism will also suffer from this type of development at this location. Thousands of people come to view the ground where the battle of the Wilderness took place. Much of this battlefield has already been lost to private development. This final step would be another nail in the coffin for this valuable cultural resource.

I urge the government of Orange County, Virginia to take the destructive impacts of this development and not just the quick financial fix of local tax revenues into consideration. I urge Wal Mart to choose another less sensitive location closer to areas already developed to place their new store.


Bruce,
I love your passion. I hope you can be their for the fight. According to the NPS web site on the park it is only open 'til dusk so i am not sure about the light pollution but I agree with the other impacts. It is to bad they didn't make the park boundary bigger in the first place if it seems like it should be part of the park. I still say the building codes could force Wal-mart to re think their placement if the restrictions are harsh enough.


I grew up near Fredericksburg and spent many hours on the battlefield. My grandparents backyard was part of the battlefield (not NPS land...private) I spent so many hours exploring the woods and of course collecting memorabelia. I went back last summer and was shocked at how much the place had grown in only 10 years. I remember when I couldn't walk down the street without some person knowing my family and pinching my cheeks.

This time it was full of strangers and huge shopping centers. Within a 2 mile stretch of road I saw 4 Starbucks! I went back to the battlefields and had a very difficult time immersing myself in the story because I could hear noise everywhere. Traffic going by with the bass thumping form speakers, car horns...I just couldn't picture a battle going on there.

Wal-Mart should not be adding to this. Save what little is left. I think that the Wilderness Battlefield is the best chance someone has to really experience things. Plus I used to work for Wally World and find them to be evil! =)

Ranger Holly
http://web.me.com/hollyberry


I hate sprawl too, especially near historic sites, whether it's Walmart, housing developments, or factories. Couldn't the federal government use its powers of eminent domain to take the land and add it to the park. They could buy it with some of the money allocated to the National Parks in the Stimulus Bill. This would benefit the park more than some of the short term fix-ups and renovations that are currently slated. Those fix-ups will inevitably have to be done again in the coming years. Using the money to buy this land would preserve it forever.


Several months ago, I attended the press conference held by Civil War Preservation Trust at Ellwood on the Wilderness Battlefield. Actor Robert Duval spoke eloquently about the need to preserve the land. Two U.S. representatives, one from Texas and one from Vermont (both states suffered terrible casualties in the battle) also spoke about how the area was "a cathedral of suffering" and how we need to show respect for the men who died there. There are some things that can't be measured in terms of the economy--what these men sacrificed is immeasurable and these fields are a monument to that sacrifice and should be preserved at all costs.


Whether it's Walmart or Costco or Target, if the land is zoned commercial eventually it will be developed. If the federal government won't buy it, we need a modern day Rockefeller to buy the land and donate it to the national park system. (Rockefeller, as some of you know, donated land for Acadia National Park and others).


I understand the need for development, but all too often the opening of a new shopping center only leads to the closing of stores elsewhere. This leaves us with less green space and more empty storefronts.


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