Preservation Award Goes To Fort Monroe Coalition
By Scott C. Boyd
(May 2010 Civil War News)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The organizations working to preserve Fort Monroe after the U.S. Army leaves the historic post in 2011 received the Chairman’s Award for Federal Achievement in Historic Preservation from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).

The six signatories to the programmatic agreement turning over control of the 565-acre historic fort to the Commonwealth of Virginia who were recognized are the U.S. Army, the Virginia State Historic Preservation Officer, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA), the National Park Service and the ACHP.

The ACHP is an independent federal agency that promotes preservation of national historical sites and advises the President and Congress on historic preservation policy.

In a press release SCHP Chairman John L. Nau III noted that the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) legislation mandating the closure of Fort Monroe “marked the beginning of a process that would involve hundreds of people and countless hours of work, to ensure that the future of this National Historic Landmark would be secure even after leaving Department of the Army ownership and protection.”

He said, “This is the accomplishment that we honor today.” The award was announced April 9, 2010.

“It is a banner achievement,” said William A. Armbruster, FMFADA Executive Director. “This is a really significant award and we’re very pleased to be part of that.”

Fort Monroe, the largest masonry fort ever built in the United States, was begun in 1819 and completed in 1834 at Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Va.

Although Virginia seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy, the fort remained under U.S. control for the duration of the Civil War. It aided the Union blockade of Norfolk and facilitated control of the vital Hampton Roads waterway at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay.

Nicknamed “Freedom’s Fortress,” the fort became a destination for escaped slaves during the war.

By the middle of the 20th century, military aviation made the fort’s long-range coastal artillery batteries obsolete.

Fort Monroe became the Army’s headquarters for its doctrine command in 1973 and was ordered closed by the 2005 BRAC plan.

In 2007, Virginia created FMFADA to study, plan and recommend possible uses for the fort after it is turned over to the state.