Gettysburg Tower - preservation or too much government control?

Great Debates
1

Here is a newswire story with background information.

In a nutshell, a private individual, on private land next to the boundary of the Gettysburg National Battlefield park built a nearly 400’ observation tower as a “tourist trap” and it’s been there since 1974. In an effort for “preservation” a court ruled recently that the government can go in and seize the land and blow up the tower - which they did this past Monday.

I grew up about 30 miles from Gettsyburg and have visited there countless times. I’m a huge Civil War history buff and am all for preservation of the park for historical significance. I also remember this tower going up, the stink it raised and the eysore it was. But it was private land, not on the park, and privately owned.

This got me to thinking about the whole “preservation” thing with Gettysburg. They say they want to restore the land back to the way it was at the time of the war - including all modern buildings. What about the new visitors center that has been the cause of a lot of discussion over the last few years. I’m not sure where it’s located, but it must be in the vicinity of the park if not on park land. Are they going to tear that down too?

What about all the monuments placed around the park to commemorate and remember those who fought there? Despite what some idiots who visit the park and ask dumb questions, they were not there then, either.

What about the National Cemetary whose dedication gave us the great “Four score and seven years ago” (Gettysburg Address) speach by Abe Lincoln? There was a small cemetary there before, IIRC, but certainly not all the graves that occupy the fallen soldiers. Are they going to remove them and their grave markers?

What about the town of Gettysburg itself? It borders the park, and in fact atleast one person lost their inside the town life during the battle. Are they going to seize the entire town and blow up any building built since 1863?

Personally, I’m glad to see the tower is gone, and I’m glad to see there is a “preservationist” ideal with the national parks. But I’m very leary about the fact that the government is allowed to just seize any private property and destroy anything it wants and call it “preservation”. Granted they paid the owner a fair price for the land and tower, but its that siezure thing that keeps digging at me.

2

Well, I think the key to the issue was the tacky, ostentatiousness of the tower. Gettysburg was the site of the greatest military battle in the history of the western hemisphere, and the guy built George freakin’ Jetson’s house next to it!

3

“… nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

– U.S. Constitution, Amendment V

4

Private property is taken every day with compensation. It is taken to build roads, for utility infrastructure… entire neighborhoods are taken to be redeveloped like in downtown Washington DC… if they can take entire blocks of downtown DC I can’t see anything wrong with taking a tower somewhere.

5

This is distressing. First the Gettysburg tower, then what next?

I have a fear that it might be Pedro’s Hat at South of the Border.

If that should be destroyed, how else would gullible travelers enjoy the breath-taking vistas of Pedro’s parking lot and the soybean fields of Dillon County, SC.

6

The problem I have with it is that when land is condemned and justly compensated for to build a highway, it’s usually considered progress (I know, that can be debated). The case here is on of regress and was confiscated and destroyed simply because it was ugly (which it was).

I’m not disturbed that the tower is gone, I never liked the thing. What I’m disturbed about is the fact that it was confiscation by the governmnent simply to destroy.

To me this is worse than the government telling someone they can’t use their own land because of some friggen swamp rat that’s on a lousy “threatened species” list lives there. This was confiscation and destruction of private property.

7

MKM, while i understand where you are coming from I do not see much difference. As I say, entire sections of a downtown can be taken because they are ugly to make room for a park or new development. The tower taken was at a plce of greater significance than most downtowns. I do not think they are going after everything ugly :slight_smile: You can rest easy

8

I don’t know most down town areas are of great importance to cities. They are the heart of economic exchange and the life blood that keeps the coffers filled. It seems to me that cities would have every reason in the world to make sure that downtown looked as good as possible. Why not get rid of ugly buildings for new ones?

I never saw the tower so I don’t know how ugly it was. Perhaps some people enjoyed looking at the park from tower to get a greater appreciation of the size of the battle field. I seriously doubt that imminent domain was meant for situations like this. There was no overwhelming public interest in having the tower removed.

Marc

9

MKM wrote:

Ah. From the above-linked article:

“The government set aside $3 million to compensate the owners.”

At least they’re not just taking away his property without recompense. (But why did the government merely “set aside” 3 million dollars instead of giving it to the owners?)

10

>> At least they’re not just taking away his property without recompense

Tracer, we have already established they couldn’t do this if they wanted as it would be unconstitutional. Furthermore, if you donot agree with the compensation you can go to court and have the courts decide. You do not just have to accept whatever they give you.

11

We were in Gettysburg 2 years ago and went up the tower. It was in fact ugly, but it was neat to be able to look down at every thing from so high up. Perhaps if the original builders weren’t such dickheads intent upon pissing off the locals, they could have built in a location slightly further away, or built something that was a little more asthetic that went better with the surroundings. That tower was ugly & stood out like a mustach on the prom queen! I don’t like the government taking private property though. In fact, I don’t like much of anything the gov. does!

But, hey! If any of you have never taken the Gettysburg/Washington D.C. vacation, I highly recommend it. It actually turned out to be the most inexpensive we’ve ever taken, and there is so much to see!:slight_smile: