Environmental Assessment for GNMP Cyclorama Center Available For Public Comment

Date: August 24, 2012
Contact: Katie Lawhon, [phone], ext. 3121

(National Park Service)

Gettysburg National Military Park has posted an environmental assessment for the Final Disposition of the Gettysburg Cyclorama Building. The document is now available for public comment at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/cycloramaea.

The comment period will end on September 21, 2012. A copy is also available for review at the Adams County Public Library reference desk at 140 Baltimore Street in Gettysburg.

The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing to demolish the Gettysburg Cyclorama building, located on North Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg National Military Park, as part of its project to rehabilitate North Cemetery Ridge to its historic 1863 and commemorative-era appearance. Other actions would include returning monuments to their historic locations, rebuilding commemorative pedestrian pathways and rebuilding historic fences.

The environmental assessment has been prepared in response to a decision of the U.S. District Court in March 2010 directing the NPS to undertake a site-specific environmental analysis on the demolition of the Cyclorama building and to consider "non-demolition alternatives" to its removal before any implementing action is taken on the building. The building is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The EA evaluates three alternatives: Alternative A: No-action: Mothballing of Cyclorama Building; Alternative B: Demolition and Removal of the Cyclorama Building (NPS Preferred); Alternative C: Relocation of the Cyclorama Building Outside the Park by a Non-NPS Entity.

The NPS has chosen Alternative B: Demolition and Removal of the Cyclorama Building as the NPS preferred alternative because it best meets the project's purpose and need to rehabilitate the landscape of the North Cemetery Ridge to its 1863 and commemorative-era appearance by removing modern intrusions.

Members of the public are invited to comment on the document. Comments may be posted electronically at the website: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/cycloramaea. Click on the Cyclorama Building environmental assessment under "current projects." Comments may also be submitted by e-mail us or sent by U.S. Mail to Superintendent, Gettysburg National Military Park, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100, Gettysburg, PA 17325. All comments must include a name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, if applicable.

On Thursday, September 6, 2012, Gettysburg National Military Park will accept EA comments at a public meeting of the park Advisory Commission. The meeting will be from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and takes place at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, Ford Education Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike.

A limited number of copies of the EA may be available from the park Superintendent's office upon request, contingent on availability.

The public comment period for initial scoping for this planning process ended in October 2010. In addition to accepting comments directly, Gettysburg National Military Park hosted two open house meetings where interested members of the public submitted comments to park staff.

Gettysburg National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service that preserves and protects the resources associated with the Battle of Gettysburg and the Soldiers' National Cemetery, and provides an understanding of the events that occurred there within the context of American history. For more information about the park go to https://www.nps.gov/gett.