Creation of Fort Ward Park, VA.

Outline of Talking Points for November 7, 2009
Fort Ward Park History Workgroup Meeting

DRAFT--WORK IN PROGRESS
Creation of Fort Ward Park: Mission and Intent
Annotated Highlights from 1953-1983
J. Glenn Eugster, Seminary Hill Association, Inc., Board; Friends of Fort Ward, Member

November 6, 2009

1953

Early in 1953, Lt. Cmdr. Moreau B.C. Chambers, a member of the D.C. Civil War Round Table, in collaboration with Mrs. R.F.S. Starr, contacted the Alexandria Department of Planning about possible acquisition of Ft. Ward. Correspondence from Mrs. Starr to Wanda Dowell. January 29, 1982

1954

“The City should save the area as an important historical landmark.”
“The area should be used for the creation of a “historical park for the use, education and enjoyment of all the people. The Fort Ward Historical Park would be, in our thinking, a natural park, kept essentially in a natural state with a minimum of roads structures and other developments, and a minimum of expense. Possibly some picnic areas. There would be no athletic fields, no tennis courts, no playgrounds”.
Remarks by Mr. Wiecking, President of the Seminary Hill Association, to the Alexandria Planning Commission. April 1, 1954.

“.. a proposal to acquire not only valuable land in terms of historical character, but also to preserve as much land as possible to be left in a natural state. I think it is important for the community to have such areas located strategically throughout the entire City”.

“…the municipality must gain acreage to give apartment dwellers and the average residents a place in which he does not feel crowded”.
Remarks on a land acquisition proposal for Fort Ward Historical Park by Eugene L. Barnwell, Alexandria Director of Recreation. April 7, 1954.

1955

“To preserve a historical site and further provide a recreational area which should remain as much as possible in its natural state”…..”To provide for the recreational interest and pursuits of those persons desiring areas left in their natural state”…
From a fact sheet dated March 15, 1955 labeled Fort Ward Historical Park, Braddock Road and North Howard Street. Presented by Lee Fones, Director of Alexandria Recreation Department for land acquisition and parks in the recreation Capital Improvements Budget. March 17, 1955.

1960

“The City should hire a landscape engineer to complete plans for park development and to coordinate the development of the Fort site”.
Letter from Eugene L. Barnwell, Assistant to the City Manager, to E.G. Heatwole, City Manager. October 7, 1960.

1961

City Council approval of a resolution authorizing funds to compensate owners of land outside the fort walls “for the purpose of establishing a public historical park”.
City Council Meeting Minutes, September 11, 1961.

“I recommend to the City Council that the manager be authorized to consult with firms engaged in this type of work to determine costs of services for the development of such a master plan.” Report notes “Funds Available Now, Special Appropriations: Armory Fire Insurance Proceeds $8,705.38. This sum could be used to engage consultant for preparation of Park Master Plan”.
From a report from the City Manager at the October 10, 1961 City Council Meeting. Council approved motion for the Manager to engage appropriate consultants for this project and to use the above-mentioned funds.

“In conclusion, it is my opinion that this acquisition of the additional acreage is imperative for the protection of the fort and for assembling a large enough tract of land to be developed into an attractive and useable park for the city”.
Report recommending the acquisition of additional property at Fort Ward Park, dated November 3, 1961, from the City Manager to the City Council at their November 14, 1961 meeting.

1962

“It is a pleasure to submit a proposal for the preparation of overall plans for Fort Ward Park. We feel that the most effective results will be obtained by preparing three (3) different sets of drawings:
(1) A General Plan….;
(2) A Planting Plan…; and
(3) A Plan of Construction Details…”
Letter from C.C. Robinson of Robinson Brothers Company, certified Landscape Architects & Consultants, to P.B. Hall, Acting City Manager. January 22, 1962. [Final Plans due June 15, 1962].

The General Plan, prepared in July 1962 and revised in August and September, allocated use areas; proposed grading, road alignments and signs. It included:
Museum
A small maintenance building near the intersection of the park-loop and the cemetery access road.
Overflow parking parallel to Braddock Road.
Picnic areas outside of the park-loop, except for one area east of the fort walls.
Areas to view bastion.
Graves.
Future open area on the east boundary of the park

The Planting Plan, prepared in July 1962 and revised in August 1962 and January and February 1963, identified:
Outline hedges
Protective hedge row
Hedge barrier
Plantings for existing wooded areas
Planting groups

Sometime after September 1962 the General Plan was modified to include:
A new maintenance building, with public restrooms, behind the Museum parking lot.
A managers residence off Braddock Road.
A children’s barnyard east of the Museum parking lot.
Proposed picnic tables within picnic areas.
Walking trails
Specific roadside plantings.

“Although the park’s principal importance is historical, it also can be used in its natural state as a recreational and picnic area.”
Eugene L. Barnwell, Alexandria General Services Director (involved in the restoration project since he was Director of Recreation in 1954) Sunday Star, Washington, DC August 5, 1962.

1968

“I understand that part of these properties my be occupied by a family cemetery. Would you kindly advise if this be true and let me know if it poses any problems. Specifically, does the City want to remove the bodies or will it keep the graveyard as part of the park”.
Letter from Armistead L. Boothe, attorney for Cassius McKnight and Edward M. Robinson, to Dayton Cook, Deputy Director, Department of Public Works regarding City Council resolutions for land condemnation at Fort Ward. May 2, 1968.

1973

“On the three holidays during that period (May 20 through September 15, 1972)it was necessary to “close” the park and refer other picnickers to Chinquapin Park or to other sites”.

“Last year’s use indicates the need to control attendance by requiring advance reservations or by physically closing the gates when the maximum capacity has been reached. Capacity is set at 450 which means that at the maximum each park user would have approximately 3710 square feet of open space. This does not offer the pastoral setting many are seeking and for which the park was laid out”.
Letter from Eugene L. Barnwell, Director recreation & Cultural Activities, to Wayne F. Anderson, City Manager. March 7, 1973.

1979

In 1979 Kathleen Kust, a designer working as an intern in the Park Planning Division of the Transportation & Environmental Services Department, was employed to prepare a master plan for the park. The plan included:
Fort Area (including the earthworks but not the rifle trenches, battery, or graves) including Maintenance Building and Restrooms
Play Area with screened plantings along boundary with homeowners)
Amphitheater
Restrooms on the west side of the park
Proposed Picnic Area with a shelter near Braddock Road
Maintenance yard next to the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery
Proposed Overflow Parking in the future open area. Includes 94 parking spaces with screened plantings along the boundary with Marlboro Estates homeowners, and on top of existing graves)
Charles W. Hendryx Memorial
Rip-Rap Path along the drainage channel near the Hendryx Memorial and the cemetery

1980

In 1980 the City received a Young Adult Conservation Corps Grant to begin implementation of the Master Plan elements.

1981

“That the City Council Authorize the City Manager to submit the nomination to the State Historic Preservation Officer at the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission for the certification and forwarding to the U.S. Department of Interior”. From a memo to the Mayor and City Council from Douglas Harman, City Manager, regarding the Nomination of Fort Ward to the National Register of Historic Places. Prepared by Joseph Hensley, Director, Department of Recreation and Cultural Activities; Wanda Dowell, Curator, Fort Ward park and Museum; and Suzanne Schell, Director, Division of Historic Resources. June 2, 1981.

1982

“Fort Ward is a 35-acre Historic Park owned and operated by the City of Alexandria, Virginia. The park is comprised of three major elements. In order of importance they are:

a) Civil War Earthen Fortifications (Fort, riffle trench, outlying gun battery);
b) Reproduction Period Military Buildings (Museum, Officer’s Hut, and Park Maintenance and Restroom Complex); and;
c) Recreational Facilities (Park on the perimeter, separated horizontally, picnic areas outside the historic area, and a rustic amphitheater. Enhanced by carefully located planting beds)”.

Statement of significance (…..Fort Ward today serves as a 35 acre historic park and museum….).
Application for listing on the National Register of Historic Places approved by the Executive Director, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, Commonwealth of VA. February 16, 1982

1983

In April 1983 the City published a folded-map of the City of Alexandria Arboretum at Fort Ward Park. The map includes information about shade, ornamental and evergreen trees in the park. In addition the map identifies:
Restrooms behind the parking area for the Museum
A playground on the west side of the park
A rectangular maintenance, nursery yard with a building
Three picnic areas within the park-loop and six picnic areas outside the loop
Two picnic shelters
The NW Bastion and fort earthworks and rifle trench
Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery
An open maintenance/nursery yard with a greenhouse
Amphitheater
Various planting beds

“Ever since its reconstruction in 1963, Ft. Ward Park and Museum has been a very popular recreation facility in the City with over 100,000 visitors each year. As a result of the heavy use, the park has experienced environmental decline and erosion in recent years. In 1979 an intern was employed to prepare a master plan for the park, and in 1980 the City received a Young Adult Conservation Corps Grant to begin implementation of plan elements”.
From Douglas Harman, City Manager to the Mayor and City Council, Allocation of Funds for Fort Ward Park, Capital Project Detail, October 21, 1983.