Lowell Sun
May 30, 2003

Preservationists win latest round at Hanscom
National Trust puts Minute Man Park in Concord on list of endangered places

By David Perry, Sun Staff
Sun Staff

CONCORD Armed by the endorsement of a preservational powerhouse, the forces opposing expansion at Hanscom Field yesterday lobbed a fresh volley at Massport.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation named the more than 900-acre Minute Man National Historical Park and its environs to its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The designation cites "heavy air traffic, unchecked noise and visual intrusions" from the regional airport as taking "a devastating toll" on landmarks "especially this national park on the site where the American Revolution began."

Preservationists say the sights, sounds and auto traffic created by 598 flights in and out of the airport each day threaten the park's historic and natural heritage. The designation includes Concord, Lexington, Bedford and Lincoln, as well as such hallowed historical sites as The Battle Road (Route 2A), where the minutemen fought the British Redcoats in the first battles of the American Revolution.

No ordinary press conference, yesterday's National Trust announcement was bathed in symbols of history.

Set in a tent alongside The Old Manse (where Ralph Waldo Emerson was born) overlooking the Old North Bridge (the site of "the shot heard round the
world,") a fife and drum corps played as more than 200 supporters filled seats.

Speakers included Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author David McCullough, former Gov. Michael Dukakis and U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan of Lowell. A few donned period clothing, including Anna Winter, president of Save Our Heritage. Another anti-expansion group, Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's Irreplaceable Resources (ShhAir), handed out literature. Rain fell on and off, and jets flew overhead as the event progressed.

Everyone said the National Trust's endorsement marked a turning point in the fight against Hanscom's commercial flights.

Massport officials were surprised at the National Trust's designation.

"They didn't contact the Federal Aviation Administration or Massport for any information," said Jose Juves, an agency spokesman. "We don't really know what they're basing this designation on."

Juves said that "the reality is, the airport has less impact on the neighbors than when the park was created."

He said there were 197,000 takeoffs and landings in 1959 and 218,000 last year, with 60,000 of those being single-engine student flights. (The peak, said Juves, came in 1970, with 300,000 flights leaving Hanscom and landing
there.)

"What has changed is that the airport is much more quiet," he said.

Juves added that "advanced technology" has created a quieter aircraft fleet, and over the past decades, "the number of larger, louder military aircraft are down."

Wendy Nicholas, director of the National Trust's northeast office, said the land includes more than 1,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, including Walden Woods, the homes of Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott and others, places that "came to prominence long before the first runway was laid out at Hanscom."

Nicholas said Massport's plans to expand Hanscom's civilian airport "spells doom for these historic treasures."

She said putting sites on the 11 most-endangered list "works." She said the Civil War battlefield Manassas was once saved from a planned Disneyland theme park, and several of Boston's historic theaters are being restored thanks to the attention brought by listing them in 1995.

McCullough said it is essential to preserve such historic sites so people can feel the gravity of their importance.

"If there were 598 flights a day over Yosemite, would we say that's got to stop? Yes, I think we would," McCullough said.

Dukakis noted one place that had turned its history into its future Lowell.

He called the city a "model" of urban renaissance. "And they did it not by leveling it, but by celebrating its history. And now, as many people visit Lowell as visit this place." He said that was unimaginable 25 years ago.

"Once what's here is destroyed, it can never, ever be replaced," said Meehan.

The Lowell congressman said New England should develop a regional transportation plan that includes promoting Manchester, N.H.'s commercial airport "just 50 miles from here."

David Perry's e-mail address is dperry@lowellsun.com . ==========
**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.** ==========