Gettysburg Borough Council heard pointed opposition Tuesday night to a proposal to expand the Seminary Ridge Historic District, with Adams County Library leaders, preservationists, and residents warning that the move could stifle development, and particularly plans for a new Gettysburg Public Library.
The comments came after the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) in December unanimously recommended creating a new Seminary Ridge Historic District along Route 116 and West Confederate Avenue.
Miranda Wisor, executive director of the Adams County Library System, told council that some community members believe the proposal is aimed at limiting the library’s future. “This is a move to control the library’s future development plans on the south side of the seminary campus,” she said.
Wisor emphasized that significant historic resources in the area are already protected through the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation and National Park Service viewshed rules, as well as existing HARB oversight. “I urge the council to deny the proposed expansion, and to maintain the existing historic district boundaries,” she said.
Judy Morley, president of the Seminary Ridge Historic Preservation Foundation and a scholar of preservation policy, said protecting history must be balanced with community needs. Morley said Seminary Ridge already has multiple layers of protection and that expanding the district would “tip the balance… to one that is overly bureaucratically weighted toward preservation.”
Other speakers also tied the historic district proposal directly to the fate of the planned library. “New restrictions are likely to negatively impact the construction of the new Gettysburg Public Library,” said Gettysburg resident Janelle Wertzberger.
Longtime borough resident and library board member Don Marritz was more blunt, saying that “If the historic district were expanded as proposed, it would prevent the construction of a new library.”
Teresa Smallwood, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at United Lutheran Seminary, said she supports the library project. “There is no more preserved institution than what lies on Seminary Ridge,” Smallwood said, adding that young people connected to the seminary would benefit greatly from a new library.
Rob Williams, Seminary Ridge Museum Outreach Director and a library trustee, said the Adams County Historical Society has determined that the proposed library site is not historically significant. “There is no reason for the Historical Society to believe that that library should not be built there,” Williams said, noting that the project enjoys the society’s support.
HARB Chair Brandon Stone told council that the board’s December vote to recommend a new historic district was unanimous. He said the proposal follows the same logic used when council expanded historic protections in 1999 to safeguard Gettysburg’s gateways. “The Seminary Ridge represents the last remaining unprotected entry of that kind,” Stone said. He emphasized that the recommendation was informational and that “no action is required” at this time.
Council said any decision is likely far off as it takes a fuller look at its existing ordinances.
Let’s not forget what Gettysburg really is. It’s a cemetery. It holds the remains of countless men and boys that saved a nation by fighting and dying on that dirt. Gettysburg is the reason there are Civil War enthusiasts such as yourselves that sprang up after a day or weekend touring and wandering those fields where we all know there are still unclaimed bodies that rest in these fields because only God knows their location. They are rightfully called hallowed grounds. Other libraries are fine but let’s keep Gettysburg the memorial it truly is.
I believe that too much of the Gettysburg battlefield has already disappeared with progress. I realize that progress is important to the lifeblood of a community. But, this particular area was the site of the largest land battle in the USA. This area must be preserved as well as we can and it is our responsibility to do it. Why is it so important to build another Library on Seminary Ridge? What becomes of the Library that already exists on Baltimore Street? Personally, I think this is a needless project.
Have you tried to park downtown Gettysburg try to access the current library?, especially if you are a person with impaired mobility and a disability. It is a nightmare that’s why you need a new library
Maybe you don’t use the public library often, but the lack of parking really impedes this vital community asset from providing all it could to our neighbors.
So, I wonder, because both of these issues are paramount to gettysburg, and equally important for preservation of history, and, how to find much historical knowledge, why can they not co-exist? just asking?
In answering your question, my guess is that if the land comes under the control of HARB, HARB rules usually carry with it very strict rules regarding architecture, which may conflict with architectural plans of the library. I have seen first hand where I live some of the leviathan rules of a HARB that either practically prevents any new construction or makes said construction extremely expensive.
Preserve history first and foremost. Especially when it pertains to one of the most important battles to ever happen in our nation. Build the development and library elsewhere. Or don’t. We really do not care. But leave the battle fields alone. We must stop paving over the hallowed grounds where so many on both sides gave their blood, limbs and some their last full measure.
History has been and continues to be well preserved and remembered on and around Seminary Ridge and the adjacent areas and the area of the first day of the battle. This can be seen as the road known as Seminary Ridge continues South and is known as Confederate Avenue with the many many monuments and historic markers there. It is also seen on the parallel Road to Seminary Ridge running between to the West between the Lincoln Highway and route 116 again with many memorials and historic markers it is also seen on the ridge itself with the preservation of… Read more »