Overview of comments that Citizens for a Fort Monroe National Park is submitting to the Army about Historic Viewshed and Cultural Landscape reports:

As required by the Programmatic Agreement for the Closure and Reuse of Fort Monroe, created under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the Army has researched and drafted reports for Historic Viewsheds and Cultural Landscapes. Final results will provide valuable information for proper preservation of historic buildings, irreplaceable views, and significant cultural landscapes throughout the entire 565 acres. The results will also guide creation of design requirements for future infill (replacing existing unwanted development) and limited new development at Old Point Comfort.

As drafted, the Historic Viewshed and Cultural Landscape reports capture many visual elements of Fort Monroe, but also raise some concerns. These include:
(1) Methods used to define the historic views and the need for expanding selection criteria.
(2) Inadequate number of defined historic viewsheds (42 locations), especially to the north of the moated fortress (Wherry Quarter -- the Endangered Green Heart of Old Point Comfort) and from offshore looking towards the Peninsula.
(3) No description of how the historic viewshed and landscape information should be used in the historic preservation manual and infill/new development design guidelines.
(4) No discussion of the intrinsic importance of the Old Point Comfort Peninsula as a "place" in historic Tidewater Virginia.

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