'Top 10' reasons to make fort a national park

March 1, 2008

By Scott Butler

The top 10 reasons why all of Fort Monroe should become a self-sustaining national park:

• 10. Show me the money.

Even if Virginia wants to create a self-sustaining state park, it will have to come up with a lot of money. There will be transition costs in the millions (the city and state of New York, for example, have just agreed to commit $400 million to the restoration of Governors Island.)

There is also the possibility of storm damage. Hurricanes destroyed two forts that preceded Fort Monroe on Old Point Comfort, and a downgraded storm, Isabel, wreaked $90 million worth of havoc on the post.

Consider that Virginia's total 2008 state-parks budget of $30 million is what the Army is now spending on repairs to Fort Monroe's sea wall alone.

Consider, too, that the Hampton Federal Area Development Authority relied on a half-million-dollar Department of Defense grant, and its successor, the state-controlled Fort Monroe Authority, has thus far used at least $150,000 in DOD money with the anticipation of getting more. For two entities so unenthusiastic about a federal role at Fort Monroe, this seems a strange sort of dependence.

• 9. Lions and tigers and developers, oh my!

If Virginia isn't going to provide the necessary funds, who will? Developers would be only too happy to buy pieces of Fort Monroe and set the 570-acre National Historic Landmark on the slippery slope of diminished significance and appeal.

• 8. Wake up and smell the coffee.

How big a danger is development? The Hampton FADA created three residential development plans for Old Point Comfort, and the Fort Monroe Authority has just adopted one of these as the starting point for its own plan. The city of Hampton and the commonwealth signed a memorandum of agreement that spells out their division of spoils from the sale or lease of the property.

The city has asked the Army to revise its recommendations concerning Fort Monroe's civilian future to allow for even more development than the Army thinks permissible. And as if in anticipation of having its way, the city has targeted $100,000 in its 2008 budget for the design and construction of a road linking Buckroe to Fort Monroe.

• 7. Seeing is believing.

The Presidio Federal Trust in San Francisco, a hybrid federal trust/national park, is a credible option to state and private ownership. Still receiving some federal support, it is currently meeting operating expenses through the lease of its buildings and the limited development of its own property. To those who say the federal government couldn't handle Fort Monroe, the Presidio is the beautiful, vibrant refutation.

• 6. It's the economy, stupid.

A recent study commissioned by the National Park Service shows that for every tax dollar spent on the NPS, four dollars are generated, most of which go to the communities around the parks. In some national parks, the ratio of return is even higher: one to 22 for the Blue Ridge Parkway, for instance. Hampton and the entire region stand to gain enormously from the presence of a Presidio-like, historic and recreational park.

• 5. Tourists just want to have fun.

Well, not entirely, but tourists today like their history combined with recreation. Colonial Williamsburg has benefited from Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. The areas of Fort Monroe dedicated to historical interpretation would similarly benefit from a grand open space with picnic facilities, hiking trails and water vistas.

• 4. Water, water everywhere, but so what?

For a century, public access to the shorelines of Hampton Roads has been steadily shrinking. If developers and home-buyers have their way, this process will continue at Fort Monroe, to the incalculable loss of the region's citizens.

• 3. The pearl of great price.

Much has been published in the last two years about Fort Monroe's deep historical significance. That estimate was confirmed recently at a history symposium sponsored by the Fort Monroe Authority. Twelve Civil War historians from Virginia and elsewhere agreed that the "contraband" (escaped slaves) story at Fort Monroe represents a turning point in American history. They called the post "sacred ground for American history" and "a spiritual Ellis Island," and they spoke of its global as well as its national importance.

• 2. What's done cannot be undone.

Once the green space is sold, once the shorelines are put off limits, once the next major storm hits, once the state must economize to balance the budget, we will have thrown away not just our pearl, but America's pearl.

• 1. Do the right thing.

Butler, a Newport News resident, is a board member of Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park (CFMNP.org).

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