An attempt is made here to provide factual information to help those interested in the restoration and preservation of Gettysburg National Military Park gain an understanding of the Visitor Center and Museum proposal. Many of the park's pundits have characterized, and would have you believe, that the partnership proposal is nothing more than a commercial venture to turn the historic battlefield, that was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, into a Disney type theme park.

The National Park Service proposes creating a new visitor center for Gettysburg that will reflect the historical significance of Gettysburg and includes:

Protection of the park's collection of artifacts and archives: The park owns collections of 38,000 artifacts and 350,000 printed texts, historic photographs and other archival documents. New facilities are needed to provide appropriate storage conditions, proper care, and display of the collections.

Preservation of the cyclorama painting: Providing an appropriate gallery space to stop the continued deterioration of the largest and one of the most significant objects in the collection. The "Battle of Gettysburg' is a colossal painting illustrating Pickett�s Charge, measuring 26 feet by 356 feet. The painting is designated a National Historic Object.

Provision of high-quality interpretation and educational opportunities for park visitors: New exhibits and broader interpretation to provide visitors with an understanding of the Gettysburg Campaign in its broad context of the Civil War and American history.

The National Park Service would operate the facility in association with the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation, a nonprofit corporation. The Foundation would provide financing for the complex, including no less than $27.4 million in fundraising and no more than $11.9 million in commercial loans, for a total cost of $39.3 million. No federal construction, operations, or maintenance funding would be required for the project.

After a national call for proposals and through an extensive public involvement process, the National Park Service proposes to create a new 118,000 square feet visitor center and museum for Gettysburg National Military Park. The new facility would be located about half a mile from the current facilities and would allow for the restoration and proper storage of the many artifacts now in its museum collection. The project would afford the NPS an opportunity to improve museum exhibits.

The plan also calls for museum exhibits, a cyclorama gallery, the electric map, theater/classrooms, a public research center, a book and museum store, food service, a tour center for Licensed Battlefield Guide tours and other educational tours, and park administrative offices

The proposal is not a project to turn the historic battlefield into a Disney type theme park. An earlier version of the proposal called for an IMAX theater, a civil war arts and craft gallery, National Geographic store, and two gift shops. All of these have been eliminated from the current proposal.

Myth: The new proposal will bring about economic hardship for the small town of Gettysburg and its surrounding communities.

FACT: The NPS economic impact analysis estimates that overall visitor spending will increase by 21% with an additional $23 million spent in the greater Gettysburg area, outside the park.

Myth: The Park Service has joined forces with private developer Robert A. Kinsley to build a 15-acre visitor center and shopping mall.

FACT: The NPS proposal would not commercialize the park. Rather, the project would include necessary and appropriate facilities for visitors. Existing facilities include a visitor center with an antiquated museum and collections storage facility, the Electric Map program, the Cyclorama Gallery, a conventional theater in which they present an out-dated film, a licensed battlefield guide tour center, and the Eastern National bookstore. The new facility continues these uses, providing enough space to make these operations more efficient. The new facility will also provide limited food service. In the new facility, 86% of the space would be used for the Visitor Center, museum, artifact storage, and associated uses; 9% is for the book store/museum store and the licensed battlefield guide tour center; and 5% is proposed for limited food service. The proposed partnership is with a non profit museum foundation.

Myth: The Park Service proposal is not about protecting the sacred ground or improving the park, but about money and profit.

FACT: The park�s mission is to preserve and protect the resources associated with the Battle of Gettysburg. This project would allow NPS to restore the ground where 34 Union regiments engaged in intense fighting during the battle and where an estimated 970 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. A few of the regiments whom defended this exact ground that is now covered with modern buildings and parking lots within the park are:

Infantry- 14 CT, 1 DE , 12 MA, 12 NJ, 39 NY, 108 NY, 111 NY, 125 NY, 126NY, 136 NY, 8 OH, 88 PA, 90 PA; also, the 1st Company of MA Sharpshooters.

Artillery- Woodruff�s 1st US, Battery I and what remained of Bigelow�s 9th.

In addition, the museum would improve preservation of the artifacts and archives and enhance museum education to ensure that the legacy of those who struggled here shall not be forgotten. Best of all, the National Park Service (NPS) would work with a non-profit foundation to build the facility without federal appropriations for construction.

Myth: The partnership has been a done deal from the beginning.

FACT: The NPS first considered a partnership to build a new museum in late 1994 after an unsolicited proposal from a local businessman. After careful consideration including a public planning process that proposal was shelved in favor of a new process that led to a nationally publicized Request for Proposals (RFP). As a result of the RFP, NPS received six proposals that were carefully evaluated by a team of experts from throughout the Service. The Gettysburg businessman who made the original proposal did offer one of six new proposals received by the NPS but was not the proposer selected for further negotiations.

Myth: Generations of commemoration and tourism have altered the Gettysburg landscape forever and it can't be reclaimed.

FACT: For decades the NPS at Gettysburg has been removing modem developments and restoring battlefield land to its 1863 appearance. Those who think that restoration of battlefield land isn't possible should try to find a trace of the Stuckey's Pancake House which once stood opposite the Peach Orchard, the gas station which once graced the field of Pickett's Charge, or any of more than 50 other post-battle intrusions which have been removed by the National Park Service.

Myth: Tearing down the current visitors center and replacing it with a $39 million visitors center at another site in the park is a waste of taxpayers' money.

FACT: The new visitor center and museum would be built at no cost to the taxpayer because a non-profit foundation would raise all funds needed for its construction. NPS needs the new facility to accomplish critical preservation needs.

Myth: The National Tower helps to preserve the battlefield and the memory of the battle of Gettysburg.

FACT: In 1972, the 310-foot National Tower was constructed on private property after an unsuccessful suit by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to prevent its construction because of its intrusion on the historic battlefield. National preservation organizations, civil war groups, and others overwhelmingly support removal of the Tower. The Clinton Administration�s budget request for fiscal year 2000 includes a Lands Legacy Initiative, which would provide $5.7 million for the purchase of the Gettysburg National Tower and two other parcels at Gettysburg National Military Park.

Myth: The Park Service failed to consider other options for protecting Gettysburg.

FACT: NPS developed a reasonable range of alternatives during the planning process for the draft Development Concept Plan/Environmental Assessment in 1996. As part of this process, NPS developed and reviewed with the public, four alternatives for solving the facility concerns at Gettysburg National Military Park. The public had an opportunity to review and comment upon those alternatives and to review and comment upon the criteria that NPS proposed for evaluation of the site and selection of the proposal.

Myth: If the current visitor center is relocated, area businesses could suffer a significant drop in foot traffic.

FACT: An important goal of the draft General Management Plan is to integrate the battlefield with the community and enhance visitation to the historic resources in the Borough of Gettysburg and throughout the battlefield historic district. The Economic Impact Analysis prepared for the National Park Service predicts an increase in visitation to the park from about 1,700,000 to 1,950,000 visitors per year. Likewise, visitor spending in the greater Gettysburg area is expected to increase by 23%.

Myth: The Park Service always says that they are listening to the people, but it doesn't matter what the people want to see happen at Gettysburg.

FACT: The NPS carefully considers all public comments on the Gettysburg proposal. The National Parks and Conservation Association, an NPS watchdog group, has called the Gettysburg planning process the most extensive public involvement process it has ever seen. More than 500 comments wore received on the draft General Management Plan and almost 75% of the comments support the preferred alternative m the GMP, including the Visitor Center and Museum. At every step in the process the NPS has gathered public comments. The comments offered in the process have helped NPS improve and refine the Visitor Center and Museum proposal.

Myth: The Park Service has been less than forthcoming with information that should have been openly available to the public.

FACT: The Gettysburg General Management Planning process has included an unprecedented public involvement process with 30 public meetings held to present ideas and issues and gather public comments. The draft plan was based upon 3,728 comments from individuals, organization, and agencies. During the comment period for the draft plan additional meetings were held to share information with the public and 507 comments were received.

Myth: The Park Service exaggerated some problems and understated others to justify decisions.

FACT: The critical preservation needs of the Gettysburg museum collection have not been overstated. The Gettysburg collection is the premier civil war collection in the National Park Service and 92% of the artifacts are deteriorating slowly but surely in unheated basement storage rooms that lack humidity and climate controls. The Cyclorama painting is deteriorating in the conditions in which it is displayed.

Myth: Local residents are being cut out of the planning process

FACT: All but one of the 30 public planning meetings to share information and gather ideas and concerns has been held in the local community. In addition, the NPS has met with local governments to share information on the plan. As a result, the Borough of Gettysburg is developing downtown interpretive plan in cooperation with the NPS to enhance the preservation and interpretation of historic resources in the Borough.