Boston Globe
October 17, 2003

No expansion at Hanscom

By Ken Burns

In this fast-paced and somewhat self-absorbed modern world, there is a
tendency to ignore the great teacher that the past is. We do so at our
peril, though, because we can't possibly know where we're going unless we
know where we've been. We as Americans must protect the landscapes and
historic sites that speak to us from our past.

Nine years ago, I joined other concerned Americans to speak out against the
Disney Company's proposal to build a theme park in the middle of the fragile
historical environment of Northern Virginia's Piedmont, next to Manassas
National Battlefield Park. Fortunately, in response to a national public
outcry, Disney did the right thing and abandoned its plans.

Today, another fragile historic area is threatened -- the threat this time
in the form of proposed expansion of an airport, Hanscom Field, right in the
heart of one of the most historic places in America. This area includes
Minute Man National Historical Park -- where the American Revolution
began -- and comprises the historic towns of Concord, Lexington, Lincoln,
and Bedford. Within three miles of the airport there are more than 1,000
sites on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Old
North Bridge, where "the shot heard 'round the world" was fired; the Battle
Road, site of the battle between the colonial militia and the British
regulars that followed the fight at the bridge; Walden Pond and Walden
Woods, where Henry David Thoreau developed his profoundly influential ideas
about nature, ecology, and civil disobedience; Orchard House, where Louisa
May Alcott wrote "Little Women"; and the historic homesteads of Nathaniel
Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The developer of this project, the Massachusetts Port Authority, proposes to
expand the airport into an air cargo facility and introduce FedEx cargo
service. In factual terms, if FedEx comes to Hanscom, it will open up the
airport to the unlimited growth of cargo operations, corporate jet traffic,
and commercial passenger airlines. But in truer and more tragic terms, if
FedEx comes to Hanscom and Massport continues its plans, the beauty,
character, and historical significance of this area -- so representative of
the freedom so many died for -- will be irrevocably devastated.

More than a need, we have an obligation not to forget our past, and in fact
to do all in our power to honor, protect, and preserve it. We are in a time
of great crisis and, I hope, self-reflection. To sustain ourselves as a
people, it is vitally important that we cherish and learn to know these
wonderful historic sites and landscapes.

It saddens me that, here in the 21st century, we have to argue about
preserving an area that includes the first battlefields of the American
Revolution, the celebrated pond and woods that gave birth to the
environmental movement, and the homes of people who contributed to our
culture and literature in ways that still echo down the corridors of our
history.

Massport says that the expansion of Hanscom is "progress." But ignoring a
historical legacy is neither progress nor good economic development. When we
have a strong historical magnet in an area, people come to see it. They will
not come for the mindless sprawl that now threatens our beautiful and
historic New England countryside at every juncture.

When you go on a tour and you visit a great cathedral, the first thing
you're reminded of when you walk in is to be silent, to respect the original
intention of the cathedral. I feel the same way about the great shrines of
American history.

The North Bridge is not going to be the same with constant air traffic
overhead. How will it be possible to truly imagine what happened there, with
the hydraulic hammer of so-called progress constantly disturbing you? We
need to be able to enter these places with a certain amount of silence, to
enable us to stop and listen and imagine the kinds of sacrifices those early
patriots made. This is the birthright of every American.

Historians and conservationists across the nation are deeply concerned about
what is happening here. The National Trust for Historic Preservation
recently recognized the threat of this airport's expansion by designating
Minute Man National Historical Park and its environs as one of America's 11
Most Endangered Historic Places.

I add my voice to theirs in taking a stand against the expansion of this
airport. I ask FedEx and the Massachusetts Port Authority to follow Disney's
lead to abandon this project and do the right thing.

Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker and a member of the advisory board of
Save Our Heritage.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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