Agency, Town At Odds Over Gettysburg Battle Hospital
By Deborah Fitts

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - A historic school building in Gettysburg that served as a hospital during and after the battle is the focus of a tug-of-war between the Gettysburg Borough Council and the Adams County Housing Authority. Depending on the outcome, observers say, the power of local governments everywhere to protect their historic resources could suffer a stunning blow.

The imposing, two-and-a-half-story structure at 40 E. High St. was built in 1857 as the town's first public school. On July 1, 1863, the first day of the battle, it was pressed into use as a field hospital, and it housed dozens of Union and Confederate wounded before they were moved from town in August.

The Housing Authority bought the building in 1999, when it was largely vacant and deteriorating, and had been for sale for a decade. This spring the Authority applied to the Borough for approval to renovate the school to house their administrative offices, and also to wrap a new, three-story structure around it on three sides comprising 22 affordable rental units for senior citizens.

In May, by a vote of 6 to 3, the Council denied the request. The panel cited incompatibility with the Borough's historic district and the surrounding streetscape, which still retains its 19th-century flavor.

The decision came at a time when the Borough has been involved as never before in preserving and promoting its Civil War history. Buying into the notion that safeguarding the village's 19th- century ambiance is crucial to sustaining tourism, Borough officials are pursuing a Historic Pathway plan, have produced nearly four dozen wayside historic panels, and last year purchased the Wills House, where Lincoln stayed prior to delivering the Gettysburg Address. The Wills House will be converted to a museum.

The High Street School, with its large, open lot and mature sycamores trees, is regarded as one of the more pristine 19th-century settings in the town.

The historic setting, which included a temporary burial plot on the school grounds for victims of the battle, "would be dramatically altered by the construction on the site of the proposed two- or three-story multi-unit residential housing structure adjacent to the historic building," wrote Borough Council President John Eline in a letter to Darlene Brown, executive director of the Authority.

Further, Eline said, the plans would hamper any chance of restoring the building to its condition as designed by prominent Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan, and "would severely impact on the integrity of the High Street School's 19th century context."

The Housing Authority filed an appeal in June in the Adams County Court of Common Pleas before Oscar Spicer, the county's senior judge. It was the first time in the Borough's history that a ruling based on historic preservation was appealed in court. The judge ordered a 90-day period of negotiation which is in effect at presstime.

Local officials spoke of a "chilling effect" on the Council's ability to administer the historic district and protect historic properties, if the Authority succeeds in its challenge. In court papers, attorneys for the Housing Authority pointed out that the Borough's Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB) had unanimously recommended approval of the development plan. The Authority also argued that the Borough Council had ignored the evidence and abused its discretion. The plan was "appropriate and consistent with the existing structure," the Authority said, and the Council's decision represented "an unlawful taking of property" under the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions
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The Authority's legal argument concluded, "Gettysburg's Historic District Ordinance is illegal and/or unconstitutional for, among other reasons, it fails to provide a procedure for variance, hardship exception or similar relief to allow some reasonable use of a property where rehabilitation or renovation of an existing historic structure is only feasible through modifications and/or additions to that structure or property."

Observers said the Council's decision not to accept HARB's recommendation was prompted by input from Borough staff. Michael LeFevre, coordinator of community preservation for the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, noted that the historic district ordinance adopted by the Borough was authorized under state enabling law. The law has stood proof against legal challenge for 40 years, LeFevre said.

Since 1961 a dozen cases, in the local, state, and state supreme courts, have been brought by property owners appealing decisions by municipalities - typically, requests for permits to demolish historic buildings. In every case, LeFevre said, "The courts have affirmed the authority of municipalities to deny permits."

Based on case law, he predicted that the Borough would prevail here as well. LeFevre noted that the Borough was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and said a key goal of local government is to maintain the historic character of the village "for economic, social and cultural vitality."

The Borough had "spent of lot of money" on an award-winning interpretive plan aimed at attracting and educating tourists, LeFevre said, and the town's architectural and historic character was "well preserved."

In his book A Vast Sea of Misery, Gettysburg historian Gregory Coco notes that the High Street School was regarded as the best site for a hospital in the town. Coco also quoted a Pennsylvania surgeon, Dr. Abraham Stout, recalling that "The Union men occupied the first floor and the Confederates the second floor" in the school. Stout treated the wounded in the building throughout the month of July 1863.