» To save our history, they must work with Wal-Mart and a key landowner to select a site away from the Wilderness battlefield.
Despite growing local and national opposition, a Wal-Mart super center — and all the clutter it brings — could soon be a reality directly across the street from the Civil War’s Wilderness battlefield.
And that’s sad.
What needs to happen is simple: The store should be built a short distance away from the battlefield but still in Orange County. One nearby landowner has offered his 2,000 acres, which sits strategically closer to Lake of the Woods, but Wal-Mart won’t bite because that land is not zoned for commercial use.
In a perfect world, the Orange County Board of Supervisors should quickly rezone that land and work with Wal-Mart to allow for construction as far away from the national park as possible.
The next step would be for a major preservation group — such as the Civil War Preservation Trust — to mount a fundraising campaign to buy the sacred ground, forever ensuring its protection. The CWPT has done this many times with great success, including a $12 million land acquisition at the Slaughter Pen in Fredericksburg.
The key to this plan is the five-member Orange County BOS. The board needs to proactively facilitate not only what’s best for Orange County, but what’s best for our nation’s history. Given recent events, however, we’re doubtful that will hapen. After all, this is the same board that voted 3-2 to fire the county administrator after he publicly suggested an idea similar to the one we just proposed.
With so much at stake, it’s time for Orange County’s elected leaders to step up and do the right thing.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement