Both the governor and speaker of the (Virginia) house (from different parties) offered to invest as much state resources as possible to help locate the center on a different parcel of land within the same county just not immediately adjacent to the battlefield. There were other parcels of land, not only available but also offered; the planning commission voted against it, then had a tie vote, but the county commission overrode the planners and voted 4-1 to allow the construction at the intersection of rte. 5 and rte. 20. Not only will the eyesore detract from the battlefield's viewshed, the increased traffic - soon to be followed by further adjacent development will completely overshadow this very important Civil War heritage site.

The state officials even tried to show the commissioners just how much Virginia's economy depends on "heritage tourism" to no avail. Shame on the local officials. (NOTE: This is a purely personal opinion and does not reflect the official position of the institution for which I work.)