THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994 TAG: 9406250204
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940625 LENGTH: RICHMOND
``We're going to do everything in our power to keep them in Virginia,'' Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert T. Skunda said. ``And we're going to fight the historians and those who would put up roadblocks and unreasonable delays and harass The Disney Co.''
{REST} Skunda's comments Thursday came in response to statements by North Carolina's economic development chief trumpeting his state's eagerness to host the park.
Planned for a 3,000-acre tract in western Prince William County, the 100-acre American history theme park and surrounding residential-commercial development have come under nearly constant attack since it was proposed last fall.
On Tuesday, a U.S. Senate subcommittee held a hearing on the project, where opponents got a national audience for their criticisms. Another hearing is set next month in the House of Representatives. Watts Carr, director of North Carolina's business recruitment efforts, said his state had been courting Disney since January. ``If Disney has some serious second thoughts, then I think they will naturally look to North Carolina. And we just want to be ready,'' Carr said.
Maryland Gov. William Donald Shaefer also has written Disney Chairman Michael Eisner to offer his state's assistance should the company wish to withdraw from Virginia.
In the bruising business of economic development, Skunda said, other states could be expected to try to poach Virginia's Disney prize.
``If I were in North Carolina's position, I'd probably do the same thing,'' he said.
But Skunda insisted that Virginia is the best location for the park.
``North Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland may be proximate, but Disney's America belongs in Virginia, when you really think about the concept and what Virginia represents in terms of the history of the United States of America,'' he said.
Skunda also said opposition from environmental groups and some Prince William County residents had been expected, but ``the entry into the fray by the historians and, most recently, Congress, has been very surprising and has been very disturbing.''
He also complained about the ``dual standard'' that seems to apply to development proposed for Northern Virginia, prompting congressional scrutiny.
``They look at it almost as if Northern Virginia was like Washington, D.C. - not a state, not subject to states' rights,'' he said.
by CNB