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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