Central Virginia Battlefields Trust
The Civil War battlefield called the Wilderness has been in the news in recent years because of Walmart's plan to construct a supercenter nearby. Preservationists rallied to oppose construction of the big box retail center near the battlefield, encouraging the retail giant to build elsewhere. A coalition of concerned citizens and organizations forece the matter into court, where Walmart eventually relented and stated it would build elsewhere.
During this lengthy fight between retail and history, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust quietly acquired a 93-acre parcel, less than a quarter mile from the proposed Walmart site and which could well have become an "elsewhere" for big box development. The Battlefields Trust's acquisition abuts National Park Service property, fully protecting the intersection of the historic Plank Road and the Orange Turnpike. In the early twentieth century, the Virginia Highway Department constructed the new intersection, where Walmart wanted to build its supercenter. This new crossroads bypassed the historic intersection, which remained a farm road, without improvement, up through the present day.
The Battlefields Trust intends to transfer ownership of 31 acres of this property to the National Park Service, for incorporation into the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. In this manner, the site will be opened to the people of the United States (the Battlefields Trust does not interpret land, but rather holds it in trust for eventual transfer to a public agency). This transfer is immediately possible because the 31 acres in question is already within the National Park's authorized boundary. The remaining acreage will be held unti such time as the Park boundary can be expanded to encompass this additional land.
The purchase price for this acreage was relatively high. In this rapibly growing area, only temporarily slowed by the current recession, the real estate market remains volatile. The property owners were glad to preserve their land and gave the Battlefields Trust a fair price, but that still came to $950,000. The Commonwealth of Virginia provided a grant to help with its acquisition, as did the federal American Battlefield Protection Program. Both of these grants require matching funds, though, so the Battlefields Trust has been soliciting donations from its members. The Civil War Trust provided a donation, but the remaining funds needed to pay off this note are coming from private citizens. The intact historic crossroads and the original road, down which U.S. Grant rode on May 7, 1864, are significant features on the Wilderness landscape. The remaining 62-acre tract, however, is also important as a potential future location for a new Wilderness Battlefield visitor center.
Such a facility would allow visitors coming from Fredericksburg and the Interstate-95 corridor to turnn off State Route 3 before reaching the modern commercial intersection. The very much improved modern crossroads already has commercial development and will remain zoned for additional commercial uses, even though Walmart will build elsewhere. As a consequence on the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust purchase, there will exist an attractive and viable place for a more appropriate gateway to the nationally significant Wilderness battlefield.
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