McDonald's? Yes
Mini-malls? Yes
Walmart? NO
The Newsleader(It is one word on web page) lead line on May 1 was... A judge kept alive Friday the fight to block a Walmart Supercenter near an endangered Civil War site where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met on the field of battle.Mini-malls? Yes
Walmart? NO
The NewsVirginian had an Ap story That a group wants to add Walmart to a lawsuit in regard to the Wilderness Battlefield.
They want to put a Walmart Superstore in Locust Grove on Rt.3. There are a number of developments and mini-malls there. There is a McDonald's there.It would be on the periphery of the battlefield.
The Wilderness Battlefield is over on Rt.20. Even by the Civil War Preservation Trust's own maps, it is outside the battlefields.It is even outside the Union movements that evening.
Preserve the Union Latrines ! ! 
I have written about this before.
Fishy Mike added a piece today.
As did Blog from on High
I'm sorry, Phil. I do regard Walmart as somewhat evil. They destroy mom and pop businesses in so many of the towns where they locate themselves. I will not enter one. When I'm going to Lowe's in Staunton, I even hate to drive into the Lowe's/Walmart driveway from Richmond Rd. for fear of someone thinking I am going to Walmart. I'm against them building anywhere!
ReplyDeleteThere are pluses and minuses to every situation. I wonder how many hardware stores Lowe's put out of business? I wonder how many diners and luncheonettes McDonald's put out of business? But at the same time, people have 1 stop shopping.
ReplyDeleteThe point that I was making though, was that the fight is not for the preservation of a battlefield. It is just opposition to Walmart.
There is very little there in the area that Walmart wants to build. There are 2 minimalls. The people who live north on 3, or west on 20 have to go into Spotsylvania to shop.
This is very shortsighted thinking. You can put a Wal-Mart anywhere, but there has been only one Battle of the Wilderness. I can't believe that we've reached a point where self-described "conservatives" can value a bigbox store over their own history. Keep in mind, this is not, as some people try to pass it off, any old spot where a soldier happened to pass by during the War Between the States. It is a major battlefield, and the one where Lee and Grant first met.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in the area, I know that there is no shortage of Wal-Mart locations as it is! The site in question is in a beautiful area, and relatively unspoiled by sprawl compared to locations closer to Fredericksburg. I never felt closer to my history than when I walked the same country path Jackson's men marched through to sneak up on the Yankees. That piece of the Chancellorsville battlefield was just barely prevented from being swallowed up by development.
I have been there too. I walked there too. It is outside the battlefield area even by the restoration people. It is a battle against Walmart, not a battle for preservation. Look at the map.
ReplyDeleteWell, this post is already a few days old so this will probably be my last say on the issue. It is a personal issue for me, but I think it ought to be a personal issue for anyone who values their heritage. I've been to almost all of Lee's battles, except for some on the Peninsula. It's saddening to me to see historic sites buried by or adjacent to any old businesses. Manassas is practically a dog walking and jogging path for trendy DC liberals who get tired of the city.
ReplyDeleteI think the point is that the store doesn't have to be smack dab in the middle of the battlefield to cause a negative impact. It's less than a 1/4 mile away-it might well cause an increase in traffic and bring more development.
I used to live practically beside where there had been the Battle of Salem Church. Slow, piece by piece development took away practically all of that battlefield. All that's left is the church itself and a memorial statue. A major highway separates those two remnants of the site. 15 years ago, that area was a rural piece of land and the only real development was a golf course (which no longer exists) down the road. You would never have expected the change to have occurred. And before anyone starts saying something about "free enterprise" or whatnot, the area was developed with a mess of tax breaks and subsidies. For example, the county government gave certain real estate companies tax breaks in exchange for their agreement to keep rents beneath actual market value.
There is a Giant grocery store pretty close to the Wilderness area (maybe it's a Bloom), and a Walmart not far away in Culpepper. I can't see what's conservative about valuing a slight matter of driving convenience over preserving the relative secluded and aesthetically pleasing nature of a treasured historical site. Sure, there is some stuff there already, but why make it worse? Conservative used to mean putting higher, more permanent things over immediate gratification.
I was at Ground zero in NYC on 9/11. I lost friends that day. I remember the events of that day. I live with aspects of that day and the weeks there that followed.I think we should have already rebuilt the two towers at that location. When we are hit, we should stand right back up, and say never again. 16 acres in NYC, or 1600 acres in Virginia preserved as is, will not make a memory. It will not change the outcome of the war. The memory, the history, must be preserved in the minds of men. We must remember the events of history.
ReplyDeleteWhen you live in this area and see all the land and the thousands of people who live here, you would see we need Walmart. Everyone is yelling that it will ruin the battlefield, well, it won't. It is very hard to drive to Spotsylvania or even Culpeper when the weather is cold and you need groceries. Route 3 can be a nightmare when you have an accident and can't get through to go to Spotsylvania or Culpeper. Then we are left with one choice, and that is Bloom, which to me is over priced. Walmart by no means will be on the Battlefield. If you really want to get technical, Lake of the Woods and the strip malls are all built on Battlefield ground. So all you outsiders and so called preservationists with money, stop trying to push us around. People, get your heads out of the dumpster. This is 2010 not 1800's! Time marches on and so should we.
ReplyDelete