Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502140051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE FUCHS POTOMAC NEWS
DATELINE: MANASSAS (AP) LENGTH: Medium
What do a jousting tournament, the launching of a model rocket loaded with fish and a Carly Simon outdoor concert have in common?
All were proposed to be held inside Manassas National Battlefield Park during the tenure of departing park Superintendent Kenneth Apschnikat.
But Apschnikat would have none of that. ``A group back in '92 wanted to launch a rocket, put live fish in it, and see what happens to the fish,'' said Apschnikat. ``We said, `Uh-uh. No thanks.'''
Apschnikat, who began his tenure at the 5,083-acre park in 1988, often was caught in crossfire between a growing number of recreation enthusiasts eager to use the park's wide-open fields and an equally strong chorus of historians who preferred that access be restricted - either partially or completely - to Civil War scholars.
He also has seen the 55-year-old park become a lightning rod in the heated national debate over whether the Walt Disney Co.'s Disney's America theme park, proposed for a site four miles to the west, would mar the Virginia landscape and cause traffic headaches in the park.
The 49-year-old Massachusetts native recalled his rocky 6-year stint at the park Tuesday in an interview at his office.
Apschnikat, a 25-year veteran of the park service, recently accepted a transfer to Harry S. Truman National Historic Site in Independence, Mo., where he also will be park superintendent. The Manassas park's ninth superintendent will step down March 2. No replacement has been announced.
His tenure in Manassas was capped by September's withdrawal of Disney's proposed history theme park. The 3,006-acre projectwould have included homes and shops.
Apschnikat began his tenure under the shadow of another contentious project, a 1.2 million-square-foot shopping mall that was canceled months later.
The 558-acre would-be-mall site, named Stuart's Hill, is now part of the park. Congress acquired the land in 1988 following outcries that the mall would plow over history.
Between the two heavily publicized development battles, Apschnikat faced plenty of relatively minor controversies, such as dealing with a volunteer horse patrol program he thought was a waste of money and trying to strike a balance between recreation enthusiasts and historians.
``You fight the battles; you've gone through the controversies. After a while you get tired of it,'' said Apschnikat.
He said he has enjoyed helping oversee several major restoration projects, such as last year's replacement of the roof on the Stone House, one of the park's most prominent landmarks. The house's interior, used as a field hospital during the Civil War, also was refurbished.
He lists other accomplishments, such as improved landscaping and the removal of several unfinished homes on Stuart's Hill that were part of the mall project.
During his tenure, the walls of the Stone Bridge were replaced, a fence was replaced at Groveton Confederate Cemetery, and trees were planted near the Stone House.
Those and other improvements fell under Apschnikat's ``Adopt-a-Resource Program,'' which involves community volunteer groups such as the Battlefield Equestrian Society.
Recently, Apschnikat oversaw an agreement to relocate Virginia Power transmission lines to the park's western border. He said the move helps preserve the land's open space and makes the Stuart's Hill tract appear more the way it looked during the Civil War.
Any regrets?
``If I didn't have to spend my time concerning myself with horses, Disney and power lines, I would have spent more time on historic resources,'' he said.
Recreation buffs have caused him some headaches. Though the problem is not as bad today, Apschnikat recalled visiting a popular sledding spot near the Stone House and finding broken bottles, fence rails used in bonfires and car hoods used as sleds.
Then there are the kite fliers, the model rocket buffs and Frisbee throwers. He tolerates some of that, too, but only in certain areas, such as parts of Stuart's Hill and the park's only picnic area on U.S. 234.
One of the most difficult tasks has been to strike a balance between recreation buffs and historians, he said.
by CNB