Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 21, 1994                   TAG: 9406220138
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IT'S PRESERVATION VS. CAPITALISM AS DISNEY DEBATE GOES TO CONGRESS

Prominent historians have opposed construction of the American history theme park, which many local residents support because it would bring jobs and economic development to the area.

Lynda Farr, who has lived in tiny Haymarket for 19 years and operates a hair salon on its main street, is among the project's backers. Disney's 3,000-acre commercial and residential project would mean more customers, more stores for her to shop in and closer schools for her youngest child.

She wonders why historians such as Princeton's James McPherson, Duke's John Hope Franklin and Yale's C. Vann Woodward suddenly are meddling in her community.

``We've been out here for years, and now all these historians are coming out of the woodwork,'' said Farr, 39. ``Where were they 10 years ago? Where were they five years ago?''

Historians invited to today's hearing are likely to continue their attacks on Disney's America.

``This will totally destroy what I believe is one of the most historic pieces of land in America,'' said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which last week listed Piedmont Virginia, which includes the Disney site, among the nation's most endangered historic areas.

Such criticisms make Disney Chairman Michael Eisner bristle.

``We have a right'' to build, he said. ``It's private land. ... It's not in the middle of a battlefield.''

Representatives of Disney and Gov. George Allen, who pushed $163 million in Disney subsidies through the General Assembly, also have been invited to testify at the one-day hearing. The proceedings before the Senate public lands subcommittee will shed light on the Disney project's impact on Manassas National Battlefield Park, four miles to the east.

A spokesman for Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark., who will preside over today's hearing in Washington, said it ``has yet to be determined'' what role, if any, Congress will play in the Disney dispute. Last week, a group of House members vowed at a news conference to ``spare no effort'' to stop the park from being built.

Although the entry of Pulitzer Prize winners and noted authors has given the fray a national flavor, it is still very much a local matter in Haymarket.

``I don't care what the historians think,'' said Bob Snitzer, 44, planning director at Century Stair Co. ``History is everywhere. Maybe we should never put a shovel in the ground because of what happened there.''

Not everyone in Haymarket thinks the historians should butt out of the town's business.

``They absolutely have a role,'' said Dave Wilbur, 38, a telecommunications worker who moved to Haymarket five years ago. ``It's our national heritage, of national concern.''

Historians say the Disney property was the site of skirmishes related to the Second Battle of Manassas in 1862 and was used as a Confederate campground. But they say it lacks the historical significance that halted a shopping mall proposed for a tract adjacent to the battlefield park in 1988. In a highly unusual move, the federal government bought that 542-acre property.