Friday, September 5, 2003
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Friday, September 5, 2003 |
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Residents want history at Brown's Mill preserved By CAROLYN CARY
The Coweta County Commission, along with the Jaeger Company and New South Associates, presented the preliminary design for the proposed Brown's Mill battlefield site last week. The two firms were hired by the county to draw the preliminary plans. Jaeger Company specializes in landscape architecture and historic preservation, and New South Associates is responsible for the archeological and historical site information. Nearly 50 people turned out at the fairgrounds complex to get an overview of just how the 104-acre site would be used. The majority seemed to have a different idea of how to preserve a battlefield site than either of the two proposals. Anne T. Wilfer, senior project manager for the Jaeger Company, explained the first proposal, which would feature a small kiddie park at one entrance, walking trails, and a small exhibit hall. The second proposal would feature less passive recreation and more green space for reenactments, and festivals. Senoia resident George Piner explained that it either had to be a park exclusively or a battlefield site exclusively. "And frankly," he said, "if it's a park site, I'm not interested in going there. If you stand at the Chancellorsville battlefield site, you are in silence and awe, imagining what took place at Lee's greatest victory, and what part your ancestor had in that victory." Piner added that people would be coming from California and Wisconsin to stand where their ancestors fought, and they wouldn't want kids on skateboards whizzing by them. Others spoke up relating their feelings at the Civil War sites they have visited and agreed that an entertainment park should not even be in the equation. Former Coweta Commission Chairman Jim McGuffey and former Newnan-Coweta Historical Society director Ellen Ehrenhard also agreed the plans should only address the site as honoring the 45,000 Confederate and Union soldiers who fought each other in a fierce six-hour battle. The exchange was a Confederate victory. Dr. David Evans, author of "Sherman's Horsemen," a book describing the cavalry battle, told the audience, "We have a Civil War battlefield in your backyard. It was an important part of the Atlanta campaign and certainly one of the few Confederate victories in the area." A policeman in the audience, Joel Fetner, mentioned that the preliminary brochure passed out at the meeting mentioned the Union general, Edward McCook, 13 times, yet the Confederate general, Joe Wheeler, was only mentioned six times. Since this was only one of the few Confederate victories in the course of the four-month long Atlanta campaign, he felt this should be addressed when the preliminary brochure is reconsidered.
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