THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412200133
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SERIES: OUTDOORS PLAN
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Mark Reed is already thinking about the Virginia Beach history programs that could take place in a seating area in the proposed Francis Land History Park.
In his mind, the city's coordinator of historic resources walks trails in the woods behind the historic house on Virginia Beach Boulevard and stops at a ``wharf'' overlooking the Pine Tree Branch of the Lynnhaven River.
In his imagination he pictures a historically accurate wharf exhibit enhanced by a display of shipping barrels and a shallow bottom boat. He envisions interpretive signs that would tell the story of the Land family and how they shipped their agricultural products to market.
The Francis Land History Park is a prime example of what the Outdoors Plan's Heritage Resources Network is all about. The park encompasses all three categories of the network: natural, educational and cultural resources.
By linking the Francis Land House with a park, the city ties together history, education and nature with the added element of recreation, said J. Barry Frankenfield, a city parks planner.
The three-acre History Park, one of the Outdoors Plan's priority projects, is scheduled to open in December 1996. Frankenfield already has completed a concept sketch of the park, which has been approved by the Department of Museums and the Department of Parks and Recreation.
It will include trails for walking and an observation tower overlooking a marshy area of the creek for nature watching. A seating area for educational programs, and exhibit areas reflecting the use of the land and river by early settlers also are planned.
Frankenfield calls the combination of the park and historic house a culture ``node.'' He said the city's libraries and museums have always existed in a vacuum. They don't have any non-commercial activity surrounding them or tying them together. The Francis Land History Park takes the Francis Land House out of its vacuum to become more of a ``critical mass'' of activity.
Francis Land House visitors would be able to reach the park via a walkway from the Land house grounds. Visitors to the park could enter only in the vicinity of the Kings Grant Road dead end. The ``alternative park,'' which Reed calls it, would be free to the public just like any other park in the city.
The history park is to be located on land that was actually part of the Francis Land plantation in the 18th century. The Pine Tree Branch of the Lynnhaven is little more than a creek now, but it runs through a ravine that suggests it was a larger body of water years ago.
``The ravine shows how big that waterway could have been,'' Reed said. ``In the original land patent that body was called the Chesapeake River.''
A raised walkway would take visitors out over the ravine to the ``wharf'' overlooking the creek. Visitors would pass by some huge gum and pine trees that stand out among the smaller trees and native shrubs growing along the way. ``We'd keep as much of the vegetation as we can,'' Reed noted.
High land at the northeastern part of the property is suitable for a program area. Beyond the high land, an observation tower would give a bird's eye view of a marshy area of the Pine Tree Branch. Reed has seen egrets and other birds frequenting the creek and marsh.
``It should be beautiful,'' Reed said, ``something you wouldn't expect to find.'' MEMO: [ALSO SEE: Related stories ran in The Beacon on pages 10, 11, 13, 14,
15, and 16 for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: THE GREAT OUTDOORS
[Color photo on cover]
Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Mark A. Reid, coordinator of historic resources for Virginia Beach,
stands in woods across from the Francis Land House that will become
an historic park.
Concept Sketch
The three-acre History Park, one of the Outdoors Plan's priority
projects, is scheduled to open in December 1996. J. Barry
Frankenfield, a city parks planner, already has completed this
concept sketch of the park, which has been approved by the
Department of Museums and the Department of Parks and Recreation.
HERITAGE RESOURCES NETWORK
To encourage citizen stewardship and appreciation for the city's
heritage resources, and to increase the visibility and promotion of
the resources for tourists, the Outdoors Plan recommends the
following actions:
Develop an environmental almanac of the seasons focusing on
everything from monthly weather conditions in the city to natural
events such as wildflower blooms, crop harvests, and bird and
aquatic mammal migrations.
Develop material to identify places to visit and sites to see,
such as historic homes and natural areas, specimen trees, scenic
vistas, etc.
Work with the state and federal government to manage significant
natural areas in the city's greenways.
Work with experts to develop signs that would promote the city's
cultural, historic and natural resources along foot trails, canoe
trails and roadways.
Complete the comprehensive inventory of heritage resources that
is already under way and encourage voluntary protection of these
resources.
KEYWORDS: OUTDOORS PLAN by CNB