History, and this list, are about preservation of the past for  
instruction of future generations.

Fortress Monroe is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is  
unique in Virginia for its completeness, its preservation, its history  
and its associations. Each of the four National Register criteria can  
be argued for it. That is not usual at all.

In this case, the often maligned Federal Government has taken an  
interest in this property not only for it's original purpose, for  
which it might be expected, but which has not always happened, to  
maintain the facility. It has given it membership on the NRHP as a  
significant part of Virginia and the nation's history.

I find it extremely annoying that the objections boil down to fiscal  
expenditure as in: "Dad-burned Federal Gummint" should not spend our  
tax dollars when the private sector should do it. Developers are  
salivating at the prospect of turning the whole thing into a gated  
community at worst case. My father's generation had a statement that:  
"You can't put a bum in a good house and make a gentleman of him" and  
that same generation also had the phrases "All style and no substance"  
and "Money does not equal taste". The unalloyed reliance upon "who has  
the most money wins" is exactly what Kevin Hardwick so eloquently  
argued against in his post.

Despite the failings of federal and state bureaucracies in the eyes of  
some, these agencies are not completely staffed with idiots. It is  
their job to recognize outstanding examples of our past and to ensure  
as much as possible that future generations will have the benefit of  
them. Fortress Monroe has long held that distinction. Fort Monroe was  
made a National Historic Landmark in 1960 way before there were the  
national laws requiring consideration of effect on significant  
properties. It was added to the NRHP in 1966 and to the Virginia  
Register in 1969. It is the legal responsibility of the various  
agencies to take into consideration effects in a reasoned manner  
before irreversible steps are taken.

To me, this is a clearcut case that Fortress Monroe is a part of the  
common wealth of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Cutting it up for a one- 
time profit is certainly not. Municipal assistance in such a short- 
sighted venture is nothing more than living off ill-gotten gains from  
prostitution, to phrase it indelicately but undeniably accurately.

Lyle Browning

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