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
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com
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"The Board of Supervisors' 4-1 vote was really no surprise. But we are not giving up on this." --Orange County resident Jack Snyder, vice chairman, Piedmont Environmental Council's board"It is now up to Wal-Mart to do the right thing and, of course, the right thing is to move the store a mile or so down the road. Then, everyone wins and Wal-Mart becomes the really, really good guy. We will keep the faith until the first shovel goes into the dirt." --Zann Miner, president, Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield
"If this proposed superstore is built on Wilderness battlefield, just a stone's throw from the national park, it will set a terrible precedent and put all of our national parks at great risk of neglect and thoughtless development." --Richard Moe, president, National Trust for Historic Preservation"It is not necessary to desecrate the land where a horrific battle took place less than 150 years ago in pursuit of profit and pavement. Despite last night's disappointing vote, we will continue to explore options to protect this important national park. We continue to hold out hope that Wal-Mart will do the right thing by relocating its business, and respect and protect America's heritage and history." --Catharine Gilliam, Virginia program manager, National Parks Conservation Association |