Friday, Mar 10, 2006
Women's Rights National Historical Park has kicked off its scoping period for preserving the Wesleyan Chapel, site of the nation's first women's rights convention in 1848. When the National Park Service acquired the Wesleyan Chapel in 1985, it bore little resemblance to its original appearance, having been altered over the years ? most recently to a laundromat and apartment building. To preserve the remaining fabric of the chapel and increase national awareness of this structure so integral to the genesis of the women's rights movement in America, NPS and the National Endowment for the Arts sponsored a design competition. The award-winning design removed all modern additions to the structure, preserving the chapel's remaining historic fabric, which was incorporated into a new commemorative and contemplative park.
Over time, a number of issues have emerged regarding this treatment, and the long-term preservation of historic fabric is now at risk. Factors such as moisture, wind, and vandalism are taking their toll on the brick and wood. In addition, the contemplative environment intended in the original design has been significantly diminished as noise from heavy truck traffic on the adjacent state highway continues to increase.
To address these issues, and to enhance the visitor experience to the Wesleyan Chapel, Women's Rights NHP has assembled a planning and design team to develop and evaluate a range of alternative actions through an environmental assessment/assessment of effect. Local media interest in this project has been high, with television coverage from nearby Syracuse and from numerous newspapers. Several hundred newsletters were mailed to interested parties, and agency and public scoping meetings were held on March 8th. The scoping period will remain open until March 24th. For more information or to submit a comment, go to http://parkplanning.nps.gov.
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