Petersburg National Battlefield seeks public's two cents on City Point preservation project

Kristi K. Higgins, The Progress-Index
·2 min read
From left to right, outbuildings at historic Appomattox Plantation in Hopewell, Va. include the kitchen-laundry building, old smokehouse, new smokehouse and dairy.
From left to right, outbuildings at historic Appomattox Plantation in Hopewell, Va. include the kitchen-laundry building, old smokehouse, new smokehouse and dairy.

HOPEWELL — Petersburg National Battlefield seeks public comment on a planned preservation project to outbuildings at the historic Appomattox Plantation in Hopewell.

"People have lived at City Point for thousands of years and we want to ensure that the past is adequately recorded," National Park Service stated in a press release.

The pre-1850s outbuildings, two smokehouses and a dairy, included in the project at General Grant's Headquarters are listed as part of the City Point National Register District.

The preservation includes the removal of the three buildings from their foundations to perform wood framing and sheathing repairs, carpentry repairs, and interior and exterior painting. Additionally, the project will attempt to restore the three buildings' foundations.

The restoration of the foundations will follow an archeological survey to investigate the integrity of resources underground and the construction of the foundations. The results of the survey will inform the restoration of the foundations.

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The public is invited to comment on the Preservation of Outbuildings at City Point draft Programmatic Agreement [PA] as part of the public process outlined in the regulations for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act [36 CFR 800].

Public comments made by February 12 will be considered as Petersburg National Battlefield finalizes the PA.

Provide comments at National Park Service's Planning, Environment and Public Comment site at parkplanning.nps.gov or via mail at the following address: 1539 Hickory Hill Rd., Petersburg, VA 23803.

The PA will guide how the work is accomplished and make sure that both the archeology and the buildings during this project are protected. The PA was developed after consultation with the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office and federally recognized tribes who used the area in the past.

The Petersburg National Battlefield's goal is to avoid, minimize or mitigate adverse effects to historic buildings, landscapes, and archeological sites that may result from the work that they will undertake.

For more information on City Point Outbuildings Preservation, contact Alexis Morris at (804) 732-3571 ext. 305 or Alexis_Morris@nps.gov. Follow Petersburg National Battlefield on Facebook and Twitter.

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— Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly columnist is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at khiggins@progress-index.com, follow @KHiggins_PI on Twitter, and subscribe to us at progress-index.com.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg National Battlefield seeks input on preservation project