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02/18/2008
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BY T. DEVON ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
DINWIDDIE — Visitors to the Five Forks Battlefield are currently greeted by the battlefield itself — and not much else.
A 480-square-foot former gas station serves as the visitor’s center and is located in a spot that offers poor access to the bulk of the battlefield. There is no running water or septic system at the site either.
All this will change in 2009, when the National Park Service opens its brand new visitor-contact station and satellite-maintenance facility. The groundbreaking for the new buildings is scheduled for 11 a.m. on March 26, said battlefield Superintendent Bob Kirby.
“We had been working on the funding literally since the battlefield became property of the park service,” said Tracy Chernault, who is serving as the project manager.
Five Forks is the site of an April 1, 1865 battle that contributed to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s decision to retreat to Appomattox Court House, where he surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The National Park Service acquired the battlefield in 1990, Chernault said. The site is one of the most intact battlefields in the Petersburg National Battlefield, reflecting the landscape during the Civil War, Kirby said.
The $3 million visitor center complex will have 2,400 square feet, which will include handicapped-accessible public restrooms and 730 square feet of indoor exhibit space, up from 388 square feet. The expansion also includes a larger parking lot that can hold buses and RVs, a 1,600-square-foot maintenance facility and more than seven miles of trails. Visitors to the battlefield have to forge their own trails or walk alongside the roads that constitute Five Forks.
“Currently, we don’t have any formal trails at all,” Chernault said.
The maintenance facility will house equipment used for the upkeep of the site. Currently, vehicles and equipment needed for the battlefield have to be transported up to 21 miles to maintain the site. Both the maintenance facility and the visitor’s center will be placed in a manner that would screen them from the five forks intersection, Kirby said.
The Petersburg National Battlefield is in the process of searching for contractors for the project, and expects construction to begin soon after the groundbreaking, Chernault said.
“We’re hoping, by the time of the anniversary of the battlefield on April 1, we’ll have a new building for visitors,” Chernault said.
• T. DeVon Robinson may be reached at 722-5160 or trobinson@progress-index.com.
©The Progress-Index 2008
Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/n...d=462946&rfi=6
More News
BY T. DEVON ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
DINWIDDIE — Visitors to the Five Forks Battlefield are currently greeted by the battlefield itself — and not much else.
A 480-square-foot former gas station serves as the visitor’s center and is located in a spot that offers poor access to the bulk of the battlefield. There is no running water or septic system at the site either.
All this will change in 2009, when the National Park Service opens its brand new visitor-contact station and satellite-maintenance facility. The groundbreaking for the new buildings is scheduled for 11 a.m. on March 26, said battlefield Superintendent Bob Kirby.
“We had been working on the funding literally since the battlefield became property of the park service,” said Tracy Chernault, who is serving as the project manager.
Five Forks is the site of an April 1, 1865 battle that contributed to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s decision to retreat to Appomattox Court House, where he surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The National Park Service acquired the battlefield in 1990, Chernault said. The site is one of the most intact battlefields in the Petersburg National Battlefield, reflecting the landscape during the Civil War, Kirby said.
The $3 million visitor center complex will have 2,400 square feet, which will include handicapped-accessible public restrooms and 730 square feet of indoor exhibit space, up from 388 square feet. The expansion also includes a larger parking lot that can hold buses and RVs, a 1,600-square-foot maintenance facility and more than seven miles of trails. Visitors to the battlefield have to forge their own trails or walk alongside the roads that constitute Five Forks.
“Currently, we don’t have any formal trails at all,” Chernault said.
The maintenance facility will house equipment used for the upkeep of the site. Currently, vehicles and equipment needed for the battlefield have to be transported up to 21 miles to maintain the site. Both the maintenance facility and the visitor’s center will be placed in a manner that would screen them from the five forks intersection, Kirby said.
The Petersburg National Battlefield is in the process of searching for contractors for the project, and expects construction to begin soon after the groundbreaking, Chernault said.
“We’re hoping, by the time of the anniversary of the battlefield on April 1, we’ll have a new building for visitors,” Chernault said.
• T. DeVon Robinson may be reached at 722-5160 or trobinson@progress-index.com.
©The Progress-Index 2008
Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/n...d=462946&rfi=6
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