Remarkable Resolution to Valley Forge Controversy Announced on Eve of Independence Day Weekend
On the eve of Independence Day weekend, the American Revolution Center (ARC) and the National Park Service (NPS) announced an innovative agreement to end two years of controversy over the location of the proposed American Revolution Center. The agreement includes a land transfer whereby the NPS will receive ARC's 78-acre property at Valley Forge in exchange for providing to ARC an NPS-owned site several blocks from Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
The agreement, announced on July 1, 2009, will allow visitors to enjoy a new American Revolution museum on an appropriate site in a historically-rich area, while also protecting the historic landscape of Valley Forge National Historical Park (NHP) for our children and grandchildren. NPCA looks forward to providing any help we can to the ARC and the NPS as they implement this agreement.
For years, ARC and the NPS planned to build and operate an American Revolution museum on a former industrial site near the park’s Visitor Center at Valley Forge NHP. More than two years ago, ARC left the partnership to pursue building the museum on private land inside the park on the north side of the Schuylkill River.
Almost totally surrounded by national parkland, the ARC site was included by Congress in the 1980 boundary expansion, but has remained privately owned since. Modern historical research shows that the historic Pawlings Farm, of which the ARC site is part, was vital to the Continental Army encampment during 1777-78.
We would like to thank everyone who helped ensure this important land at Valley Forge NHP was protected, including those who generated and agreed to this innovative solution to what has been a difficult challenge for all involved. We look forward to continuing to work with you to protect Valley Forge, and to strengthen connections between Valley Forge and historic Philadelphia.
Questions? Contact Cinda Waldbuesser, NPCA’s senior program manager in Pennsylvania, at 215.327.2529 or cwaldbuesser@npca.org.
See Also
National Parks Conservation Association Praises American Revolution Center’s Agreement to Locate Museum at Independence National Historical Park--07/01/09
In the News
Editorial: Victory in sight, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 7, 2009
