Some in this Virginia History forum might possibly want to see the
Virginia-history-based comment following the dashed line below. I
distributed the comment widely this morning among people involved in, or
observing, the planning for post-Army Fort Monroe. Thanks.
Steve Corneliussen
Poquoson, Virginia
P.S.: One national activist wrote back: "What an original idea. Maybe
Hampton can use the Pirates of the Caribbean theme! Oh, wait -- that's
already been done ....
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/attractions/pirates-of-the-caribbean/
"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
With the city of Hampton newly re-empowered to steer Fort Monroe’s
post-Army future, advocates of a Grand Public Place built on the
foundation of a substantial Fort Monroe National Park -- and on a
foundation of Hampton’s responsible stewardship -- may want to ponder
the new historic-tourism vision that the city is considering for itself:
Hampton as a “national pirate destination.”
Following are excerpts from the article
(http://www.dailypress.com/news/hampton/dp-nws-cp-downtown-pirates-20110602,0,4170291.story)
dominating today’s front page in the Newport News Daily Press:
QUOTE
Plans are afoot to ... establish downtown Hampton as a national pirate
destination, with the buccaneer concept emerging as a key strand in a
consultant's plan ... . The “economy of piracy” was cited in a recent
speech by Yaromir Steiner, the [Ohio] consultant hired to find a new
vision ... . “Using virtual reality experiences and an interior
recreation of a ship, I think that the historic courthouse could work to
initiate a pirate museum,” [local historian John] Quarstein said. ...
While [the consultant] mentions strengths such as Phoebus, Fort Monroe
and the Virginia Air & Space Center, [his] report cites critical
problems with downtown. ... The consultant said, “A city can go nowhere
if it's an in-between place … you have to be a place in your own right.”
... [The consultant] said the pirate idea could be treated in a “very
scientific way.”
UNQUOTE
Would glorifying and romanticizing barbarian sea criminals help Hampton
become a destination city? Would virtual reality allow vivid recreations
of beheadings, other murders, and rapes?
The federal base-closure law perpetrates a serious mistake. It considers
any abandoned base to need “redevelopment” by the nearest municipality.
It treats any base -- even a national treasure with international
significance -- as the equivalent of a humdrum Fort Drab in a cornfield.
So here’s a question for all who have nurtured, and left unquestioned,
that national error in Fort Monroe’s case: Does today’s story renew your
confidence in the wisdom of leaving so much of the deciding to any one city?
Thanks.
Steven T. Corneliussen
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