THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160591
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE GEARAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FREDERICKSBURG LENGTH: 50 lines
A plan to stop a Wal-Mart store from being built atop land that was once part of George Washington's farm is apparently on track, but the retailer said Thursday it won't yet renounce claim to the property.
A nonprofit group is trying to raise about $3 million to buy the land adjacent to the site of the farm where the first president lived as an adolescent. The homestead, called Ferry Farm, later burned to the ground.
Wal-Mart proposed its 93,000-square-foot superstore and 30,000-square-foot shopping center in February.
The retailer later agreed to give up its controversial plan in return for permission to build a similar store nearby.
Wal-Mart had set a deadline of Aug. 15 for the Kenmore Foundation to commit to the deal and prove it can come up with the money, or the company would go ahead with its original site.
But Wal-Mart spokeswoman Betsy Reithemeyer said the company wants to postpone a decision until after a zoning hearing on the new property next week.
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the company's request to change the zoning on the new site.
``The county has said they don't see a problem with it, but nothing is a done deal,'' Reithemeyer said. ``We're just going to wait (until next week) because of the closeness of the time.''
The Kenmore group oversees the nearby home of Washington's sister, which is preserved as a museum.
Kenmore must raise not only the approximately $2.2 million purchase price of the land, but the costs to reimburse Wal-Mart and its development partners for work already done, Reithemeyer said.
Kenmore should meet the new deadline Aug. 21, museum executive director Vernon Edenfield said Thursday. The payment to Wal-Mart and its development partners would likely take place this fall.
``The company must certainly realize that Kenmore is a charitable organization and that it is making a major effort in providing funds for the purchase of land alone,'' Edenfield said. ``We have high hopes for the preservation of Ferry Farm and the resolution of this situation.''
The land was zoned for commercial development, and Wal-Mart has said it did not foresee opposition to its original plans.
The Washington family probably grew tobacco on the land Wal-Mart optioned for its store. The tract lies next to a small park area that includes preserved sections of the Washington home's foundation. by CNB