Embattled land

Preservationists’ fight to keep Wal-Mart from locating a Supercenter near the Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County may just have received some more ammunition.

Preservation Virginia named the Civil War battlefield to its annual list of “Most Endangered Historic Sites in Virginia” Monday along with eight other places facing “imminent or sustained threats to their integrity or in some cases their very survival,” according to a news release from the nonprofit history group.

Zann Miner, president of the Friends of Wilderness Battlefield — the local preservation group leading the charge against the impending big box development at Wilderness — emphasized that they are not opposed to free enterprise or to Wal-Mart building a new store in Orange.

“Our request is simple: Wal-Mart executives, join us in our effort to protect our nation’s heritage and the story of thousands of Americans whose descendants may shop at Wal-Mart,” she said. “Support this national treasure by finding a more suitable location for the new store.”

More than 160,000 troops clashed in the Wilderness — so named for its dense woods and thick undergrowth — May 5-6, 1864, marking the first meeting of generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Nearly 29,000 casualties were inflicted in what is considered one of the Civil War’s bloodiest battles.

Preservationists, led by FoWB, oppose an ongoing plan by Wal-Mart to build a 140,000-square-feet Supercenter on 52 acres within the battle’s “historic boundaries,” according to Preservation Virginia.

The store is proposed to go up just north of the intersection of routes 3 and 20, across Route 3 from the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, though the subject land is not part of the park.

There are also plans for a large parking area and three “baby-box” retail stores on the site, according to Preservation Virginia.

“The proposed Wal-Mart would degrade the rural context of the battlefield, promote commercial sprawl and drastically increase traffic through the heart of the park,” Preservation Virginia said in its release.

The Wilderness Battlefield is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On its grounds sits Ellwood, an 18th century farmhouse that served as both a Confederate hospital and headquarters for Union General Gouverneur Warren.

The rust red farmhouse is the only structure still standing on the historic battlefield that stood during the Civil War. The Friends of Wilderness Battlefield recently celebrated restoration of the first floor in Ellwood; the proposed Wal-Mart would sit about a quarter-mile away.

Preservation Virginia, in making its announcement Monday, urged Orange County officials to “carefully consider the full implications” of allowing the large big box store at Wilderness.
“We urge Wal-Mart to relocate to another site in Orange County,” the group said.

The proposed Wal-Mart project goes to public hearing Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Orange County Planning Commission meeting in the Prospect Heights Middle School cafeteria. Prospect Heights is located near the intersection of routes 20 and 15 in the town of Orange.

In a statement earlier this month, Wal-Mart said the proposed store at Wilderness is and has been from the beginning “in keeping with the unique character of Orange County.”

According to Wal-Mart, preservationist groups have the right to oppose the project, but “they consistently fail to mention some basic facts.”

Wal-Mart executives, in defense of the project, say, 1) nearly one-third of the proposed site would be placed in conservation easement; 2) the store would be nearly ¼-mile from Route 3, behind extensive buffering and landscaping; 3) two strip malls, a number of other stores and a major four-lane highway already occupy the area; 4) the Wal-Mart property has been zoned commercial for 24 years and is designated for commercial use in the Orange County Comprehensive Plan; 5) the site could be developed for other commercial uses without design and aesthetic controls and 6) a recent poll conducted by an independent firm for Wal-Mart found “overwhelming support” in Orange County for the store and that the Supercenter would not negatively impact the area’s Civil War history.

“Our research has consistently shown that people in this community want additional retail options and that the new store will not diminish the important historical attractions in the area,“ Wal-Mart said.

Miner, a longtime historian, Star-Exponent columnist and former director of the Museum of Culpeper History, was not particularly swayed by Wal-Mart’s argument that commercial development already exists nearby.

“My mama always told me that two wrongs don’t make a right,” she said.

The Civil War Preservation Trust, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Piedmont Environmental Council, National Parks Conservation Association and Friends of the Fredericksburg Area Battlefields are among other history groups opposing a Wal-Mart near the Wilderness Battlefield.

The Orange County Review contributed to this report.

Other sites
Preservation Virginia’s 2009 list of “Most Endangered Historic Sites in Virginia” —
*The Wilderness Battlefield, Orange County
*Former Home of Colonial Heights Baptist Church, Colonial Heights
*Wolftrap, Isle of Wight County
*Selma, Loudoun County
*McIntire Park, Charlottesville
*Historic Barns of Pittsylvania County
*Konnarock Girl’s School, Troutdale
*1908 Marion Schoolhouse, Smythe County
*The Obici House, Suffolk

*online at preservationvirginia.org