University of Virginia Library

Hartt Objects To Prison Location

Thank you for your letter about
the decision to locate a prison in
the center of the historic area of
Green Springs. After Mr. Otis
Brown's recent declaration on
television that the Commonwealth
had "no second thoughts" about
the decision, it was reassuring to
learn that you have personally
reviewed it, and have visited the
area. I would strongly recommend
that you make another visit, on the
ground this time, so that you can
see the historic homes inside and
out, and gain a clear idea of what is
at stake.

To my great regret, I am obliged
to take issue with every major point
raised in your letter. Those who
oppose the decision are, in fact,
well informed about the plans for
the prison, which have been
repeatedly published in the
newspapers. I personally attended
the public hearing on the subject
before the Art Commission, and
managed to get quite a good look at
the model. Even more alarming
views were visible to all on
television September 7. Although
attempts to "landscape" a
$10,000,000 concrete prison 600
feet in diameter with a 60 foot
guard tower would be about as
effective as trying to camouflage
the Pentagon, no such plans were
presented to the Art Commission.
The prison and its extensive paved
parking areas are to be surrounded
by an eight-foot steel-mesh fence,
surmounted by barbed wire.

As for the supposed economic
impact on Green Springs of I-64,
the same argument would apply to
any tract along its entire route
between Richmond and
Waynesboro. Not the faintest
evidence of any intent to "develop"
Green Springs has yet been
produced. Any such threat could
easily be discouraged by the legal
device of scenic easement. As you
are no doubt aware, owners of large
parcels of land in Green Springs
have indicated their intent to place
such easements on their property.

You characterize the prison as
"an anchor," a depth charge would
be a more accurate simile. It is
difficult to imagine any facility
more certain to destroy beyond
recovery the quality of an historic
area than a maximum security
prison. That its construction would
in fact open up the area to
development was recognized by Mr.
Otis Brown when he told the
Louisa County Board of
Supervisors on June 11, 1970. "We
found that wherever we go—and we
have Institutions all over
Virginia—that after a period of
years people build on top of us...We
have found it necessary to move an
institution from a locality because
of the fact that subdivisions grew
around us."

Preservation of historic areas
depends on the efforts of their
inhabitants which, in the case of
Green Springs, have been
extraordinarily effective. With the
enormous economic pressures
developed by the prison, its staff
and the necessary and doubtless
unsightly services for its visitors,
not to mention the psychological
pall it would throw over the entire
area it is unrealistic to assume that
all, or even most, of the owners of
the historic homes would long
remain in Green Springs. Would
you or I, under similar
circumstances? In a few years the
character of the area, preserved
intact for nearly a quarter of a
millennium, would be gone—just in
time, perhaps to greet the national
Bicentennial in 1976 as an exhibit
of Virginia's concern for its cultural
heritage.

I read with interest that your
office has "almost literally
discovered" Green Springs. The
historic value of the area has,
however, long been known to
students of Virginia architecture,
and is nationally documented, as
the enclosed copy of a letter from
Dr. Ernest L. Connally, Chief of the
Office of Archeology and Historic
Preservation, in the National Park
Service, will make clear. Mrs.
Richard M. Nixon has expressed to
me her personal hope that the
Green Springs area will be preserved
intact for future generations to
enjoy. Strong written and verbal
opposition to the choice of this site
comes from almost every
professionally qualified person and
organization in the Commonwealth
of Virginia, as well as from many at
national level. Are so many expert
judgments simply to be swept
aside?

I might add that the individual
members of the Art Commission,
which was not permitted to
consider the choice of site, are
nonetheless bitterly opposed to it,
and have characterized it to me in
such words as "shocking" and
"unconscionable." In addition
thousands of Virginia residents are
signing petitions urging you to
place the prison elsewhere. From
my daily personal experience I can
assure you that public indignation
is widespread, spontaneous, intense,
rapidly mounting, and may well
become overwhelming.

Since the prison is still in the
planning stage, and could easily be
adapted to any other site, it is by
no means too late to change.
President Nixon, when he realized
the dangers involved, had the
courage and imagination to stop the
Florida canal when it was half dug
and millions had been spent, and
won national acclaim by so doing. I
urge you, with all the emphasis at
my command, to follow the
President's example. Before the
damage is beyond recall, a
commission of qualified persons
should be appointed to study the
matter and report to you and to the
citizenry. I would be happy to
testify before such a commission. I
repeat, for the third time, my offer
to come to Richmond to confer
with you in person. The present
misguided decision has nothing in
common with your progressive and
constructive projects for the future
of Virginia. No plausible argument
has yet been put forward to explain
it and no qualified individual has
thought of defending it. To disrupt
a small area of natural and
architectural beauty, cherished for
hundreds of years, would be an act
of senseless vandalism unworthy of
the traditions of the State or of
your own excellent administration.
Yet if such an intrusion is
permitted to disfigure Green
Springs, that monstrosity above all
will stand in the minds of
Virginians as a permanently visible
monument to your term of office.
Shakespeare expressed an
important truth when he put in the
mouth of Mark Antony the familiar
lines, "The evil that men do lives
after them; The good is oft interred
with their bones."

In the hope that a sensible
solution may yet be reached, I
remain.

* * *

Thank you for your letter of
September 13, concerning Green
Springs. I am sorry that you
disagree so completely with the
decision in this matter and hope
that time will prove you to be
wrong.

Best Wishes.

I would put matters the other
way around. It is not that I, as one
citizen, disagree with the official
decision in the matter of Green
Springs. The point is rather that the
decision was taken in disregard of
the facts, and maintained in
disagreement with the expressed
opinions of all qualified persons in
Virginia, not to speak of many
national authorities. In this respect
time has already proven me right.

I would be extremely
disappointed to have to interpret
your letter as a refusal to discuss
the matter in person. In my own
experience I have always found that
a strong position need have no fear
of adversaries.