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Preservation groups vow to continue fight against Wilderness Walmart despite Orange supervisors' decision Date published: 8/26/2009
By CLINT SCHEMMER Preservationists are dismayed by Orange County's approval of the Wilderness Walmart retail center, but aren't conceding defeat. A national coalition of heritage groups will continue appealing to the retail giant to find an Orange site for its Supercenter that's farther from the Wilderness battlefield. The store site is a quarter-mile from Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. "The ball is now in Walmart's court," James Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Preservation Trust, said yesterday. "Walmart better understands the nationwide anger generated by its proposal to build on the doorstep of a national park. "It is in the corporation's best interests to work with the preservation community to find an alternative site. We are optimistic that company officials will see the wisdom of moving elsewhere." But Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris ruled that out. "It's clear that the public has spoken and there is considerable support for the store at the site," he said. "We would like to continue our open dialogue with these groups, but they appear to have other motives." Calling the Walmart plan "misguided," Lighthizer said the trust and the other members of the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition will weigh all options for continuing their campaign. "This battle is not over yet," he said. The coalition was joined in its opposition to the Walmart by 253 of the nation's top historians, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford, Congressmen Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., the Vermont Legislature, Pulitzer prize-winning authors David McCullough and James McPherson, and TV documentarian Ken Burns. Asked yesterday whether legal action is now likely, coalition leaders declined to speculate. But the coalition will be "keeping up the drumbeat of opposition" to the project, said Jim Campi, the Civil War Preservation Trust's director of public policy. He noted that in battlefield controversies elsewhere, preservationists have proven to be tenacious. "At Brandy Station in Culpeper County, we lost every zoning vote against an industrial park and a Formula One racetrack," Campi said. "But ultimately, we prevailed, and that battlefield is preserved. We're in this for the long haul." Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Date published: 8/26/2009
I know it's hard to believe but many of Wal Mart's customers
are poor and need to shop there in order to provide
adequately for their families. The Chinese made products
are inexpensive and that's a good thing for these people.
Wal Mart makes a great target because they are big. If Wal
Mart does not locate at the intersection, another store or
stores will. Capitalism allows stores to sell what they want
and people to buy what they want. This is freedom and it's
what makes our country great.
Grumpy, first the US does not own Omaha Beach. We have a cemetery there beyond the beach with 9,000 Americans who gave their lives. Who owns it is not the issue, how it is protected is. Do a google earth and zoom in on Omaha Beach and take a look up and down the beach and tell me how many commercial buildings you see within miles of where those men died. WalMart can afford to go elsewhere. A quarter mile down the road near Bloom will not hurt their sales nor impact on the Wilderness. It is the right thing.
As a retired Marine, I have enjoyed shopping at WalMarts all over the country. I can say without doubt that the customer service was always great, except in Fredericksburg. I will acknowledge, however, that WalMart here in Fredtucky is still ahead of K-Mart's
You know... Dollar General has TWICE as many stores as
WalMart ... have you tried the customer service in those
stores?
This is more Luddite stuff. Mom & Pop stores might have
had more knowledgeable customer service but they did not
pay any better and most of then do not provide any health
insurance at all.
this is just plain silly. All modern retailers pretty much
function like WalMart does. Go look for customer service in
a Costco or K-mart or Target....
people are using a double-standard
when I'm working at Walmart and all you Walmart haters are looking for everyday low prices, don't ask me for help finding anything because I either not know or don't care to help you....but seriously, I think one of the reasons Walmart is so hated is because of the poor customer service customers get. Which is a result from poor quality hiring and training. But building on historic ground is just a direct insult to traditionalists and preservationists..
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