February 24, 1998

Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the National Park Service's proposal to develop a visitor center and museum facility complex at Gettysburg National Military Park. Gettysburg is the site of the July 1-3, 1863 battle that many consider to be the turning point of the Civil War. The park encompasses 5,900 acres of terrain upon which most of the battle occurred. Located throughout the park are monuments built by the battle's survivors to memorialize their comrades who fell in battle, as well as state memorials and unit markers. The national cemetery, where many Union dead are buried, and whose dedication was the occasion of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, is also included in the park.

Gettysburg National Military Park also owns a notable collection numbering 38,000 artifacts plus archives and printed texts and historic photographs numbering close to 350,000 items, many of which are priceless and irreplaceable. There are more than 1,700 monuments and cannons within the park and 100 historic structures that represent the 26 farms of the Civil War battlefield. There is a long tradition of living history programs, guided walks by interpreters, and personalized tours by battlefield guides, licensed by the park, that help the park's more than 1.8 million annual visitors understand the meaning and the magnitude of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Gettysburg, like many other units of the National Park System, is faced with a number of serious problems. The visitor center and museum facility project is a proposal the National Park Service is pursuing at Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) to try to solve some of our most crucial problems.

In the fall of 1994 when the current superintendent arrived at Gettysburg NMP, the National Park Service took the opportunity to assess the park's resources and operation. As a result four significant long-term goals were identified for the preservation of precious park resources and the improvement of visitor services and interpretation and education capabilities. These goals were:

1. Protect the park's collection of objects and archives: The park's 38,000 items in its museum collection and estimated 350,000 piece archival collection are severely threatened by the substandard conditions in which they are stored. Storage and curatorial facilities lack heat, air conditioning, humidity and dust control, and fire and intrusion protection. Left in current facilities the collections are slowly rotting away. We need to provide environmentally controlled space for the permanent protection and preservation of the park's world-famous collection of Civil War era artifacts and archives.

2. Preserve the Cyclorama Painting: One of the most significant pieces in the park's collection is the cyclorama painting "The High Tide of the Confederacy." This painting is a colossal panoramic painting in the round of "Picket's Charge," the climax of the battle. Completed in 1884, the painting stands approximately 26 feet high and is approximately 356 feet in circumference. The current building housing this painting, built in 1962, was inadequately designed and has structurally failed, exposing the painting to both structural stress and excess humidity. Left in its current location, without extensive renovations to the building and restoration of the painting, the cyclorama painting also will be lost to decay. We need to provide adequate facilities for the long-term preservation and display of the Cyclorama painting.

3. Provide High-Quality Interpretation and Educational Opportunities for Park Visitors: The story of the causes, course and consequences of the American Civil War are compelling. Museum interpretation and displays at Gettysburg NMP, however, concentrate on battle action, tactics and battle artifacts. This time-honored approach to interpreting the Battle of Gettysburg does not tell the story of why the American Civil War happened, or why it matters to Americans, which is also our mandate at Gettysburg. We need to provide visitors with an understanding of the Gettysburg Campaign in its broad context of the Civil War and American history, and its continuing legacy to the American people. The current visitor center structure makes this impossible.

4. Restore the High-Water Mark of the Battle: The current visitor center, cyclorama center and parking lots are located on the site of Ziegler's grove, a landmark during Picket's Charge and the location of Union battle lines of the 2nd and 3rd days of the Battle of Gettysburg. This is some of the most hallowed ground at Gettysburg NMP and is part of what is called the "high-water mark" of the battle of 1863. Buildings and facilities need to be removed and the ground they are now occupying restored to resemble its condition at the time of the battle in order to honor the valor and sacrifices of those men who fought and died on that ground for their beliefs.

At the time these goals were established the National Park Service's cost estimates for addressing the problems identified was $43 million. In January 1995, the NPS concluded that funds were not available from the service-wide construction funds and were unlikely to be appropriated by Congress anytime soon to resolve deficiencies in park facilities and to achieve the park's goals. Consequently, the Director of the NPS approved the concept of exploring a public-private partnership to solve the problems at Gettysburg NMP.

In April 1995 the park initiated a public planning process to evaluate park needs and to discuss the concepts of a public-private partnership. Over the subsequent year, the public had three opportunities to comment upon draft plans (totaling 140 days of public review), and the park hosted seven public meetings to answer questions and to collect further comments. The result of the year-long planning process was the draft "Development Concept Plan/Environmental Assessment (DCP) for the Collections Storage, Visitor & Museum Facilities" at Gettysburg NMP. That DCP recommended that the NPS release a nationwide Request for Proposals, to seek an appropriate partner to accomplish the park goals (above). As part of the public review process of the DCP, the public was specifically invited to comment upon the proposed criteria, which would be used to evaluate any proposals received. I would like to submit a copy of the RFP for the record.

In December 1996 the NPS released a formal "Request for Proposals for Visitor Center and Museum Facilities" (RFP) at Gettysburg NMP. The RFP was initially open for 150 days with a closing date scheduled for April 11, 1997. The deadline for submittals was extended once, at the request of two groups, in order to get the broadest possible response. The revised closing date was May 9, 1997. Six proposals were submitted in response to the RFP by the revised deadline.

In May, a national evaluation panel was formed to review and to analyze the responses. The panel evaluated the responses against all ten criteria listed in, and required by, the RFP. After four months of evaluation, the panel unanimously recommended one as best meeting the NPS goals and the stated criteria in the RFP. On October 13, 1997, the panel sent its recommendation to the Director of the NPS. On November 6, 1997, after a month of careful review and analysis of the panel's evaluations and findings, the Director of the NPS approved the recommendation.

• The proposal satisfied completely the park's four main goals: preservation of artifacts and archives; preservation of the Cyclorama painting; substantially enhanced interpretation of the Gettysburg Campaign; and complete rehabilitation of the Union's battle lines. Only two of the final four proposals completely satisfied those 4 goals.
• The proposal provided an appropriate site for the new facilities, on privately owned land inside the park boundary and achieves the following:
  - The proposed site would have no impact upon significant park resources. The site lies in an area that was behind Union battle lines, between the Union positions on Cemetery Ridge and Culp's Hill. The only activity that took place on this land was artillery positioning and occasional troop movements. No troops fought and died on the site as compared to the blood-soaked ground upon which the current visitor center and cyclorama building are located.

  - The site would provide easy access for park visitors to prime interpretive areas of the park, such as the National Cemetery and the High Water Mark.

  - Due to the topography of the site, below Cemetery Ridge, new facilities would be constructed in such a way that they would not be visible from any point on the Union battle lines, from Cemetery Hill, through Cemetery Ridge, to Little Round Top.

• Since the proposed site would be inside the park's boundary, both the lands and the facilities would revert to NPS ownership at the end of the proposed cooperative agreement (25 years). (This can only happen for a site within the park's boundary.)
• A non-profit corporation would be formed. The majority of the project's costs would be raised from donations, grants, and corporate sponsorships, while the balance of the costs would be borrowed. If all of the project's cost could be raised, there would be no need for the non-profit corporation to borrow any funds.
• A range of related facilities have been proposed to both provide service for visitors and a revenue stream for amortization of the borrowed funds. Those facilities include a theater, an arts and crafts shop, a tour center, and cafeteria-style food service. In addition Eastern National, an ongoing park cooperator that currently operates bookstores in many national park units, would continue to operate a bookstore with proceeds continuing to be returned to the park.

We have "folded" this proposal into the General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement process that is currently underway at Gettysburg NMP. We will present to the public the major components of the proposal along with any potential environmental and/or socio-economic impacts the proposal may have. In other words, we intend for the public to have ample opportunity to see and to comment upon the impacts (if any) of the selected proposal before we enter into a binding agreement. The terms of this agreement will be subject to the current General Management Plan process once it has been completed and approved.

We think it will take until September (1998) for the public planning process to be completed. As we work through this, we need participation, analysis, and feedback from the public. We know what we are attempting to do is a new way of solving old problems. Change can be frightening. However, we can give several assurances:

• ·Everything will be done in partnership with a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
• There will be no "commercialization" of the park.
• Everything will be subject to the detailed review and approval of the NPS.

As we take this concept through the next steps leading from a proposal towards actual implementation, we know full well that the eyes of many will be upon Gettysburg. If we can do this tastefully and appropriately, we will not only solve some of the most significant long-term problems facing Gettysburg NMP, but we will do it with limited taxpayer expense.

Mr. Chairman, this completes my statement. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the Committee and am prepared to answer questions you or members of the Committee may have.