Boston Herald
Friday, May 30, 2003

Hanscom foes get new weapon

By Greg Gatlin

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Minute Man National Historical Park to its list of America's 11 most endangered historic places yesterday, notching up the battle over growth at nearby Hanscom Field airport.

``These sites came to prominence long before the first runway was laid at Hanscom,'' Wendy Nicholas, director of the trust's northeast office, said at a Concord briefing, just a stone's throw from the historic Old North Bridge.

``Two hundred and twenty-five years ago, we stopped an empire on this very spot,'' Nicholas said. ``It's time to do it again.''

Activists who nominated the historic area for the endangered list last January reveled in the designation. They say it is ammunition to turn back expansion at the 13-acre airfield straddling Lexington, Concord, Bedford and Lincoln.

But the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Hanscom, fired back yesterday, saying the airport is quieter and more environmentally friendly today than it was when Minute Man National Historical Park opened in 1959. Last year, Hanscom had 218,000 takeoffs and landings, up from about 205,000 in 2001 and 197,000 in 1959, Massport said, adding that today's aircraft are quieter than those of 40 years ago.

In a letter to Richard Moe, the trust's president, Craig Coy, Massport's chief executive, called the notion that Hanscom has grown over time ``a widespread misconception.'' Massport spokesman Jose Juves said the endangered site designation was more about fund raising than preservation.

``I think the impact will be in the coffers of the National Trust for Historic Preservation,'' Juves said.

Nicholas' declaration that the park and its environs were given the endangered tag was greeted by thunderous applause from more than 200 residents, activists and dignitaries who crowded into a tent to avoid pouring rain. As the applause faded, the roar of a jet overhead could be heard.

``See what I mean?'' Nicholas asked.

The trust says it has stymied development at other historic sites by listing them as endangered.

Nicholas said the Civil War battlefield Manassas was ``saved'' from the creation of a Disneyland theme park. She called for federal legislation limiting civilian aircraft at Hanscom, a shift in control of the airport to a new local authority and even suggested that pilots avoid the airport.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough suggested that Americans wouldn't stand for nearly 600 flights daily over Yosemite National Park. ``There are 598 flights a day over this park, and that has got to stop,'' he said.

But U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville) questioned why historic areas surrounding Boston's Logan International Airport would not be given the trust's endangered status, and requested a list of criteria used for the designation. Fellow Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Lowell) countered by saying Massport's growth projections for the airport constitute a threat to the park.

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