THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 18, 1996 TAG: 9603180072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: STAFFORD, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Three years after its creation, the private foundation charged with turning George Washington's boyhood home into a national tourist attraction has come up with a plan.
The plan, put together by Quinn Evans/Architects, would carry a $12 million to $15 million construction cost, and ideally attract 100,000 annual visitors when completed.
Because archaeological study of the boyhood home - where Washington lived from age 6 to 20 - is only in the earliest stages, exhibits will need to rely less on artifacts and more on conceptual material, said architect Michael Quinn.
That will include his relationships with family and friends, his education and the events that molded his character.
A main visitors center and smaller satellite facility would provide films and classes about Washington's boyhood, and costumed staff would help re-enact his daily routine and teach about key elements of his life, such as surveying.
Myths are also important, Quinn said. One possibility, he said, would be placing a bucket of coins at a re-created ferry site, so visitors could try to match Washington's storied feat of tossing a silver dollar across the Rappahannock River.
An ongoing archaeological research project at the actual boyhood home location would supply exhibit material, but would also be part of the tour for visitors, displaying information about new discoveries and what they mean.
Directors hope the plan will give new life to the restoration effort, which has struggled since the Samuel Warren family donated the boyhood home property to Stafford county in 1990.
``I think this gives us the framework with which to go forward,'' said Raymond Price, the foundation's president. Soon after it took over the project in 1993, the foundation awarded a $158,000 contract to a professional fund-raiser. The firm had brought in about $70,000 when its contract expired in August. And in March 1995 the county loaned the foundation $100,000, bringing its total contributions to the restoration project to almost $800,000.
The foundation will hold a public information meeting on the plan April 17.
While the plan was a long-awaited shot in the arm for the foundation, looming in the background of the discussion was a larger issue - a proposal by a Richmond group to build a 93,000-square-foot Wal-Mart immediately to the east of the boyhood home.
Directors have voted to delay taking a position on the retail development for at least a month. by CNB