Minute Man National Historical Park on endangered sites list

By Bipasha Ray, Associated Press, 5/29/2003 - 16:47

BOSTON (AP) The Minute Man National Historical Park and neighboring communities were named Thursday to a list of America's most endangered historic sites, because of a nearby airport that preservationists say threatens the area's historic and natural heritage.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation included the area where the American Revolution began on its 2003 list of America's 11 most endangered historic places, citing ''heavy air traffic, unchecked noise and visual intrusions from a busy regional airport,'' Hanscom Field.

The park, which covers more than 900 acres, includes original segments of the 1775 ''Battle Road'' connecting Lexington and Concord, Mass. It is where the famed Minutemen, tipped off by Paul Revere, first met the British Redcoats for bloody skirmishes that opened America's war for independence.

The designation includes the towns of Concord, Lexington, Lincoln and Bedford. The area includes many historical sites, including Walden Pond and Walden Woods, made famous by 19th century author/naturalist Henry David Thoreau, and Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote ''Little Women.''

''The natural quiet of this rural setting is an integral part of the visitor experience, an experience that is shattered by the constant sound of jets blaring overhead,'' said National Trust President Richard Moe.

Jose Juves, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the commercial part of the airport, called the designation ''unfounded and unsubstantiated.''

Local preservation groups, like Save Our Heritage, which nominated the site for the list, and prominent personalities including actor Christopher Reeve, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian David McCullough and musician Don Henley, founder of Walden Woods Project, have been battling Massport over Hanscom's growth.

Save Our Heritage Projects Director Marty Pepper Aisenberg called the designation a turning point.

''Up until now, it has been just us saying that these historic sites need protection,'' he said. ''For (the National Trust) to recognize that the airport does harm the site and something does need to be done is a big step.''

Aisenberg said the Trust would work with the group to seek federal and state legislation regulating the number of flights over the area and create an agency to manage the airport that included the preservation of the site in its mission statement.

Massport's Juves said environmental studies show the airfield had less impact on the park and neighboring communities than it did in 1959, when the park was opened. Noise pollution has been reduced because of quieter modern airplanes and the absence of loud military aircraft, he said.

The former air force base has been a joint military and civilian facility since the 1950s. While the military still uses the airfield occasionally, the major users are commercial air services, private pilots and flight schools.

In 2002, Hanscom Field saw about 218,000 landings and takeoffs, a marginal increase over the 197,471 in 1959, Juves said. He also cited a 2002 National Park Service survey that found the visitor satisfaction rate at the Minute Man park was 99 percent.

''This was a fund-raising decision, not an environmental one,'' Juves said of the park's inclusion on the endangered sites list. ''This is an area where affluent communities have been able to dictate much of the dialogue and this is another result of that.''

Earlier this year, the area was named a ''last chance landscape'' by Scenic America, another national preservation group, saying any more expansion at Hanscom would bring ''intolerable jet noise, sprawl, and increased road traffic'' to the area.

On the Net:

The National Trust for Historic Preservation: http://www.nationaltrust.org

Save Our Heritage : http://www.saveourheritage.com

Massport: http://www.massport.org

Minute Man National Historic Park: http://www.nps.gov/mima

==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.** ==========