Military Style
At Alabama's Closed Fort McClellan, the Arts Have Replaced the Army.
By Karyn Zweifel | Online Only | June 6, 2008
At first glance, the old amphitheater of Fort McClellan looked like an ordinary patch of woods in East Alabama, behind an abandoned brick building on one of the many crumbling asphalt roads crisscrossing the base, closed since 1999. But the trees were lined up with military precision, all the same height with very little undergrowth. And the hillside was terraced, too regularly to be naturally formed. Crows wheeled and cried overhead, protesting any human presence.
Once this spot teemed with activity. It was the outdoor amphitheater for a military base serving the United States in the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Nearly half a million soldiers destined to fight in World War II laughed at Bob Hope, thrilled to the preaching of Billy Graham, yearned to get closer to sultry stars Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich, among other USO performers. The half-circle of stage set against the back of the building was overgrown until a few months ago, its purpose nearly forgotten. Now that the fort is being repurposed as an arts village, its importance is coming into focus.
"We have photographs of 800 black guys sitting there with 200 white guys in August 1942, saying, 'We will work together to combat our enemies,'" says Pete Conroy, a member of the Joint Powers Authority, the group of elected and appointed officials responsible for overseeing the transformation of McClellan. "Alabama, in fact McClellan, is the birthplace of military integration nationwide."
Nearly 100 military bases around the country were closed between 1988 and 1995, and many of them are being redeveloped as schools, communities, and industrial parks. But the former Fort McClellan in Anniston, Ala., is on a different path.
"It stands out," says Todd Herberghs, deputy executive director of the Association of Defense Communities (ADC). "Their use of the arts to facilitate reuse is definitely novel and creative. They've also done quite a bit of historic preservation."
Accidental preservation
Other rites on McClellan's 18,000 acres date to prehistoric times. Because the federal government bought the land closed it to the public in 1917, at least two Native American sites were preserved, nearly untouched. Because the army used Choccolocco Mountain as a backdrop for its firing range, amateur archeologists had no access. Until recently, unexploded ordinance was thickly scattered on the mountain. A government-funded cleanup effort is under way.
Conroy is also a professor at nearby Jacksonville State University, with an office down the hall from the archeology department. "We discovered years back what's called a snake effigy, a mystical, magical place. Recently this other archeological site was discovered: miles and miles of knee-high stone walls that form beautiful concentric circles wrapping around in an orientation that meets the sunrise--probably a ceremonial site."
Nurture and Nature
The future of McClellan may be even more interesting than its history. Nine thousand acres of old-growth longleaf pine have been set aside as a wildlife refuge, assuring that there will always be wilderness here. With endangered species and rare plants, the preserved ecosystem is the only one of its kind outside the southern coastal regions. About 10 million people in Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Birmingham are within easy driving distance, and they may visit for more than the scenery.
"We're concentrating on creating a center for the arts," Conroy says. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra has made McClellan their summer home and this year marks the fifth season of concerts under the stars, on a flat grassy stretch of ground near the old duck pond. A whimsical stone bridge arches high over a meandering stream; weathered brick buildings are shaded by massive hardwoods. Conroy envisions the railroad tracks converted to a trail from the arts village to the wildlife refuge.
"We're talking to weavers and basketmakers, glassblowers, potters, and microbrew experts," says Conroy. "We're looking at combining culinary arts, visual arts, and performing arts into a very specific area we call Longleaf Village."
An early tenant of this arts village is the Howard Core Company, one of the country's largest producers of violins, basses, and cellos. Jay Worrall is general manager.
"I like to ride my bike and run, and you can go for miles out here and not even see a soul. You've got beautiful landscape, and you've got these great old buildings at a very reasonable price, so it seemed like a natural fit. There's tremendous potential out here."
Now the amphitheater is cleared of trees, the stage swept, the dressing rooms behind it aired out. The sound of artillery fire has been replaced by the sweet strains of violins and cellos, and the tracks where trainloads of ammunition rumbled through will soon become the outpost of runners and cyclists. Volunteers planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs last spring. The transformation of McClellan marches on.
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Comments
Submitted by lynn at: July 28, 2008
i am intrested in finding a list of all soldiers stationed here at ft.mcclellan. my grandfathers father was stationed here. last name was hutton (i thing)