Fort Monroe National Park: The Clock Is Ticking
Louis Guy
Virginian-Pilot, October 19, 2006
(slightly different from the published version)

Getting the future of Fort Monroe right is indeed a challenge, as the Pilot's Oct. 16 editorial suggests. But just because the Defense Department is walking away in 2011, we must not let the federal government off the hook for preserving and protecting this historic, scenic and recreational treasure.

In an earlier round of base realignments and closures (BRACs) when Fort Monroe was a target, Sen. John Warner was quoted as saying that the Defense Department should not try to save money by abandoning Fort Monroe, because it would cost the feds just as much to operate it as a national park. The national significance and federal responsibility are inescapable!

In San Francisco, the Presidio was BRAC-ed 10 years ago, and similar funding issues were resolved by establishing a federal trust to administer the whole property for benefit of the public. Our federal and state leaders in Virginia need to develop a comparable solution for Fort Monroe. Why are they not discussing this in the 2006 election campaign?

Although the fort lies within the city of Hampton, the answer does not and cannot lie within city government. Legitimately concerned, Hampton has already spent almost $500,000 in planning and legal fees. However, those funds came from a federal grant, not city taxes.

It would be foolish to place the future funding for Fort Monroe facilities-historic, scenic or recreational-within the tug of war for any city's annual budget. For 20 years, Hampton has tried to find funding for historic Fort Wool, entrusted to it by the commonwealth. For 20 years it has failed. This year the city's budget crunch almost eliminated the curator for its own Hampton History Museum.

Just because closure isn't until 2011 doesn't mean we have lots of time. The heart of the property, including the moated stone fort, is required by deed to go back to the Commonwealth of Virginia when the Army leaves. But if the rest of the 570 acres is distributed piecemeal, it will destroy the potential for a self-sustaining public place like the Presidio.

Sadly, spinning off the marina and the airfield and the undeveloped beach may be what is happening. Being part of a National Historic Landmark District offers very little protection against private actions by private owners.

Once the Army's convoluted process has disposed of them it will be too late. And if any land on Old Point Comfort becomes private property, it is only a matter of time before high-rise condominiums sprout (like those going up on Willoughby Spit), in order to maximize the owner's profits.

Right now there is an opportunity to turn Fort Monroe into a grand public place, a wonderful national magnet like Williamsburg. Since Captain John Smith first saw it in 1607, Old Point Comfort has been recognized by each visitor as the extraordinary gateway between the harbor and the bay.

Properly managed as a national park, it will become a destination for regional citizens and visitors alike. Clearly we all want this to be a great public place, and Hampton will reap economic rewards next door in Phoebus and Buckroe.

It won't happen by itself. Leadership to put together a federal and state solution is badly needed. After the General Assembly session in 2007 may be too late. And their recent track record offers little comfort.

First we need for our leaders to stop sidestepping the issue. Do you want the entire Fort Monroe property kept together in a trust as a self-sustaining national park? If so, how will we work out the important details?

The clock is ticking.

Guest columnist Louis Guy is president of the Norfolk Historical Society and treasurer of Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park (www.cfmnp.org). E-mail him at louisguy@cox.net .