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War cry over American Revolutionary site
In Valley Forge, PA., a battle continues to rage that has outlasted the Revolutionary War.
After years of debate, a plan is finally in place to build an American Revolution museum complex on private land within the Valley Forge National Historical Park. But opponents are taking another stand against the ambitious — they say too ambitious and commercialized — project, says the AP.
The complex would be built on 78 privately owned acres of land known as Pawling Farm. The site is just across the Schuylkill River from a building that was Gen. George Washington’s headquarters during the encampment at Valley Forge.
The site, surrounded on three sides by the national park, was the location of the Continental Army’s commissary and the spot where 15,000 combat forces departed in June 1778 for what would be a victory in the battle of Monmouth.
The non-profit group that owns the land says it’s ideal for what they call the first national museum of the Revolution. A conference center and lodging for families and scholars would follow.
But park officials, and some residents and advocacy groups, say the development would detract from the landscape and history of Valley Forge, where Washington’s soldiers endured the bleak winter of 1777-78.
“The fear is they’re going to advertise the heck out if it, for people to come to their parcel first and get their version of history,” said Bill Wade of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, a 600-member advocacy group.
Cinda Waldbuesser, spokeswoman for the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent advocacy group for national parks, also calls the location inappropriate.
“They’re creating two centers of gravity within the park … and that’s not going to be in the best interest of visitors,” she said.
A rezoning ordinance passed by officials in Lower Providence Township, the location of the contested land and about 20 miles west of Philadelphia, is being challenged by residents and the National Parks Conservation Association, an independent advocacy group for national parks.
A public hearing is set for later this month.
Report by David Wilkening
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