Actual Citizen Question:  Someone is really missing the Sorry boat if no one has thought of Ft. Monroe becoming a National Park! To my knowledge the military operates under the same laws that govern the rest of the country. When a federal facility becomes 50 years old, it cannot just be scratched off the books. It has to be considered for the National register. I cannot believe with the history of the Fort it would even be legal to just right it off. Check into it, or the Tidewater area will really be loosing a jewel.

Actual Citizen Question: Will the city, state, and federal governments work to make Fort Monroe a place for all to enjoy; and will there be plans to maintain the historic structures for tourism?

Actual Citizen Question: If the Federal Government owns Fort Monroe, couldn't it make the base into a national park?

Actual Citizen Question: What measures are being taken to ensure the continued maintenance and public availability of this, the finest example of a casemated fort on the mainland U.S.?

Actual Citizen Question: Simply put, Ft. Monroe and the adjacent land is a State and national treasure and should be preserved as such. I was raised on the Peninsula (Newport News/Warwick) and have very fond memories of visits to the Chamberline, picnics under the live oaks, 4th of July concerts, watching the "Bay Line" ships stop at the Chamberine, many and fairly often visits to the Casemate, climbing the Coastal gun enplacements and looking out over the bay and Hampton Roads, not to mention concerts on the lawn, just to mention a few past and recent memories. The best use for the area is a combination historical preservation of the existing assets combined with public use and recreation. In my opinion, I can see no public good coming from developing the area in very high priced and exclusive housing. There is no tax income currently therefore no loss. The property should remain under State of VA ownership which would ensure long-term funding. There are several unique funding and operational options, such as an authority which could set aside side political issues. I sincerely trust that historical preservation and recreation will win out over.

Actual Citizen Question: Why not turn Fort Monroe over to the National Park Service?  With such a rich history, the Fort must be open for all citizens to enjoy.  while it is well and good that the historic properties at Fort Monroe will be preserved, the historic core of Fort Monroe (the moated fort) and its immediate waterfront should remain in public (probably federal) ownership and be operated by the National Park Service (NPS).  While Hampton will claim that the Bush administration and Congress will not add new properties to the national park system at this time, the Fort has such merit, and there are so many national constituencies that will speak to its value, that there can be little doubt that a joint effort by Virginia and the region to add the core historic areas of the Fort to the national park system would eventually be successful.

Question responded to:  Fort Monroe must be open for all citizens to enjoy.  Why not turn it into a national park?

Actual Citizen Comment: Please try to keep the Casemate Museum intact.  It doesn't make sense to move anything out of there as the history is right there.

Comment responded to: Please try to keep the Casemate Museum intact.  

Actual Citizen Comment:  Please develop a beach with access from Buckroe Beach and leave several acres of green grass for recreational purposes.  The picnic shelters are built to last for centuries.  It wouldn't make sense to destroy them.

Comment responded to:  Please develop a beach with access from Buckroe Beach and leave several acres of green grass for recreational purposes.  The picnic shelters are built to last for centuries.  It wouldn't make sense to destroy them.

 
Actual Citizen Comment:  It goes without saying that everything within the old fort surrounded by the moat should remain UNTOUCHED TO DEVELOPMENT.  This is our history.

Comment responded to: It goes without saying that everything within the old fort surrounded by the moat should remain untouched to development. This is our history.  

Actual Citizen Question:  The Chapel of the Centurian....It is indeed not only a lovely little church but a viable seat of Christian worship for many in the Hampton Roads area.  Both the chapel itself and the Sunday School and administrative offices need to continue, in my opinion, and when I asked the chaplains, they didn't know much about the continuance of any church services, community outreach, or the destiny. 

Question responded to:  What will become of the Chapel of the Centurian?

Actual Citizen Question: The First Black Child Born in America (British North American) was William Tucker. He was born in 1624 at Fort Monroe. His parents, Anthony and Isabella arrived in 1619 in Jamestown as two of the "first 20 Odd Africans" in America. Conversations have been underway with City of Hampton officials to acknowledge this historic event. Everyone is excited. What federal initiatives are available to support a project of this magnitude? How can this project enhance the creation of jobs and a new tourist based tax base at Fort Monroe from the federal government's view point?

Question responded to: What federal initiatives are available to support a reuse planning project of this magnitude?

Actual Citizen Question:  Citizens of, not only Hampton, but also the entire Hampton Roads Region should be given ample opportunity for participation in the planning process. Ft. Monroe is indeed a local, regional, and National resource that requires an extraordinary planning approach beyond that currently used.

Actual Citizen Question: There are only three citizen positions on the Steering Committee.  Surely many more people should be involved in such an important process.  How can citizens participate?

Actual Citizen Question: Since Fort Monroe has been important to Hampton Roads as a whole, shouldn't there be at least a regional advisory group of some kind making
recommendations about what to do with it?

Actual Citizen Question: Does the category "other interested citizens" on the panel include anyone with knowledge of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, cultural resource management, curation, or any other discipline which focuses on how history and the public interact?

Question responded to: Since Fort Monroe has been important to Hampton Roads as a whole, shouldn't there be at least a regional advisory group of some kind making
recommendations about what to do with it?

Actual Citizen Question: The Marina....Please let me know the plans for it and who are the contact people for that venture.

Actual Citizen Question: What are the future plans for the marina?  Will this facility become part of the MWR operations at Fort Eustis or Langley AFB, ;or will it be privatized?

Question responded to: What are the future plans for the marina?  

Actual Citizen Question: Would like to know more about the credentials of the members of the Federal Areas Development Authority.  What qualifies them to make this great decision?

Question responded to: I’d like to know more about the credentials of the members of the Federal Areas Development Authority.  What qualifies them to make this great decision?

Actual Citizen Question:  What is the action or direction regarding the future of Ft. Monroe from the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA) and the Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP)? If they are not actively involved in the future development of Ft. Monroe, why not?

Question responded to:  What is the action or direction regarding the future of Ft. Monroe from the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA) and the Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP)?

Actual Citizen Question:  I am very troubled about the composition of your panel for Thursday night's BRAC program.  Since we are supposedly in the incipient stages of this project, it seems to me that potential "players" in the Fort Monroe development plan should be represented.  And that means more than just the City of Hampton.  Although I am not an economic development expert, it seems that a few constituencies that should be heard from include:  the federal government, the state government, Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (!), other localities, homeless advocates, private business interests.  

Actual Citizen Question:  These base transition/economic development projects are not new.  There are examples of successful and unsuccessful base transition projects.  At the very least, will some group be conducting a survey of what has worked and what has not?  Will someone be looking at the Presidio in San Francisco and Alameda NAS in Alameda, California to name just two? 

Actual Citizen Question:  The U.S. Army Presidio in San Francisco was closed a number of yearsago as part of the BRAC process.  That city has transitioned the land
into public use in a variety of ways.  Fort Monroe and the Presidio
are/were similar pieces of land with waterfront, open space, park
land, and are highly desirable for housing development.

Actual Citizen Question: Have you evaluated or looked at the "Lessons Learned" related to the transition of the Presidio to public use? There may be a real chance
to avoid the mistakes that may have been made, and get some extremely
helpful suggestions to avoid "reinventing the wheel."

Question responded to:  The U.S. Army Presidio in San Francisco was closed a number of years ago as part of the BRAC process.  That city has transitioned the land into public use in a variety of ways.  Fort Monroe and the Presidio are/were similar pieces of land with waterfront, open space, park land, and are highly desirable for housing development. Have you evaluated or looked at the "Lessons Learned" related to the transition of the Presidio to public use?

Actual Citizen Question:   Why isn't it being brought to anyone's attention that 499 acres of property at Big Bethel Reservoir belongs with Ft Monroe?  Last Dec the Ft Monroe installation commander confirmed that this area will be part of the BRAC process, along with Ft Monroe proper.  Keith Cannady at the Hampton City Planner's office knows it is part of Ft Monroe.  He told me that he has gone out to see the property.  He also said that Mayor Ross Kearney did not mention this acreage at the planning meeting in October.  Cannady said he would have the city website on Ft Monroe changed to reflect this information, but that was on Jan 5th and there is still no public notice of this information.  I contacted Kimbal Payne at the Daily Press two weeks ago; he expressed interest....  Attached below is a photo of a sign posted on Saunders Rd, in Newport News, on the south side of Big Bethel Reservoir.  It seems to me that no one is letting Newport News or York County know that the Big Bethel Reservoir area will become Hampton city property if the BRAC process continues as Hampton is planning. I have knocked on doors in the neighborhoods on the south side of the reservoir in Newport News. Not one homeowner knew anything about the reservoir being part of the BRAC and Ft Monroe. Why hasn't Hampton included the Big Bethel area in any of its information pieces on BRAC and Ft Monroe? That land is as much Ft Monroe as the main post is, and it's subject to the same ultimate process for determining its future as Ft Monroe--yet, there is no official information going out to the public on this. If this is an oversight, it is most glaring. I want to know why the City of Hampton has not put this information out to the public.

Question responded to: Is Big Bethel Reservoir a part of the Fort Monroe closure process?

Actual Citizen Question: When will the Army start and finish vacating Fort Monroe?  This is an operative question for any future plans.

Question responded to: When will the Army start and finish vacating Fort Monroe? 

Actual Citizen Question:  What entity owns Fort Monroe, and if that entity isn't the city of Hampton, has it already officially given Fort Monroe to the city?  (Also,
what would be the process by which this entity--the Federal Government, I
assume--would make a gift of Fort Monroe to Hampton?)

Question responded to :  What entity owns Fort Monroe, and if that entity isn't the city of Hampton, has it already officially given Fort Monroe to the city? 

Actual Citizen Question: What will be the disposition of Building 183, currently a post office/yacht club facility (the back two rooms)?  This building is contiguous to the southern edge of the marina parking lot.

Question responded to: What will be the disposition of Building 183, currently a post office/yacht club facility (the back two rooms)?  This building is contiguous to the southern edge of the marina parking lot.