[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  A VICTORY FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION

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                        HON. MICHAEL A. ANDREWS

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. ANDREWS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, last week the Walt Disney Co. 
announced its intention to withdraw its proposal for a $650 million 
theme park and real estate development adjacent to the Manassas 
National Battlefield Park. I am extremely pleased with Disney's 
decision, for I believe it shows great responsibility and respect for 
the historic northern Piedmont area of Virginia, and I commend the 
company on its courage to make the right choice.
  Mr. Speaker, I also want to take this time to applaud the efforts of 
the many individuals and organizations who participated in the effort 
to persuade Disney to find a more appropriate location, one that will 
not destroy lands of such historical significance.
  I also want to reiterate that my efforts to oppose the location of 
the proposed theme park were never anti-Disney. It is certainly 
Disney's right to construct an American history park. The battle I 
fought was to preserve historic lands. There is more American history 
in the northern Piedmont area than any other place in the United 
States. It is also home to two of the gems of our National Park System, 
Manassas National Battlefield Park and Shenandoah National Park. It 
simply would have been a travesty to locate such a massive development 
in this area.
  Today, Mr. Speaker, our forefathers that settled this area and made 
history there--great figures like George Washington, James Madison, 
James Monroe, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson--would find the heart 
of Virginia much as they left it. Although the area has seen 
development, for the most part it has been thoughtfully progressive and 
mindful of the historic and aesthetic significance of the region. It is 
a special place that includes 38 historic districts and 32 Civil War 
battlefields. This is an area where our Nation was forged from the 
early days of the American Revolution through the Civil War.
  It is also home to two of the most precious gems of our National Park 
System: Manassas National Battlefield Park and Shenandoah National 
Park. The impact to these parks under Disney's proposal would have been 
devastating.
  The Manassas National Battlefield Park and Shenandoah National Park 
are the property of all Americans, not solely for the people of 
Virginia; no more than Mount Rushmore belongs only to the people of 
South Dakota or the Grand Canyon to the citizens of Arizona. They are 
public lands that belong to all Americans. That is why I felt the 
Federal Government, and the U.S. Congress, has an important role to 
play in this matter, and that is why I introduced a concurrent 
resolution opposing the proposed site of the development and calling 
for an alternative site to be chosen.
  This victory is one for all Americans. Our Nation's history is a full 
and proud one which has served to strengthen our democratic ideals. The 
significant struggles that mark our history remind us of what others 
have endured to preserve and maintain those ideals, and they charge us 
with the same task. Once National Parks and historic lands are 
destroyed, they cannot be rebuilt. To turn a blind eye to devastation 
of such lands would have been to turn a blind eye on the history of our 
great country.
  Mr. Speaker, this battle was won because of the tremendous 
groundswell of support for the cause of preservation. During the past 
few months, almost every major newspaper and well-known columnist has 
written on this issue. I believe that the following piece, from The New 
York Times, provides an appropriate final opinion on the fight to 
preserve the historic Piedmont area, and I ask unanimous consent that 
it be placed in the Record immediately following my statement.

               [From the New York Times, Sept. 30, 1994]

                      Disney Retreats at Bull Run

       Historians, writers and ordinary citizens won a victory for 
     the national heritage on Wednesday. The Walt Disney Company 
     abandoned the most irresponsible idea ever hatched in the 
     Magic Kingdom and decided not to build a theme park near the 
     Manassas Battlefield in Prince William County, Virginia.
       More than the fate of the battlefields of Manassas, or Bull 
     Run, was involved, ``Disney's America'' would have flooded 
     one of America's most historic and scenic regions, including 
     the nearby Shenandoah National Park, with traffic and tacky 
     development. In response to the threat to these national 
     treasures, a large, articulate coalition defeated one of the 
     country's richest corporations and its boosters in Virginia's 
     Statehouse and Legislature.
       The Walt Disney Company had recently won two important 
     battles. The county's planning board had agreed to the 
     necessary rezoning for the project, and the regional 
     transportation panel had approved $130 million in road 
     improvements. But the company concluded that the outrage 
     generated by the proposed project would mar Disney's image. 
     It was a wise decision, but a tardy one, given the scale and 
     stature of the opposition.
       There may have been other factors. Power struggles at the 
     top of the company have dented its confidence. EuroDisney, 
     its Paris project, has been a huge miscalculation. The last 
     thing Disney needed was a bruising and protracted public 
     relations battle against the nation's most respected writers 
     and thinkers on the Civil War.
       Disney did not expect such a struggle. Gov. George Allen 
     was on their side and a mindlessly generous Legislature was 
     willing to pay millions in development expenses. What they 
     did not reckon with was the passionate nationwide outcry that 
     carried a clear message. The Manassas country-side is not 
     Virginia's to sell. It belongs to the nation.
       Congress now needs to pass legislation designating a new 
     kind of preservation area--the National Historic Region--that 
     would enable it to control development in areas that are 
     precious to the nation.
       Along with proving the power of organized, articulate 
     opposition to a bad idea, the intellectuals, 
     environmentalists, preservationists and ordinary citizens who 
     fought the project proved something else. Michael Eisner, 
     Disney's chairman, argued that Americans were ignorant about 
     their history and needed Disney-style fun to teach them. As 
     the historian David McCullough has pointed out, this episode 
     has shown that Americans do know their history and care about 
     ground made sacred by what occurred there.

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