Press Release - September 16, 2008

Press Contact: Bill Armbruster, 757-637-7778

FMFADA outlines action steps for implementation at September board meeting

September 16, 2008.Fort Monroe, Virginia….Three years and counting until the Army’s moving day on September 14, 2011. It’s a timetable that’s getting lots of attention since Governor Timothy Kaine approved the reuse plan on August 20, 2008.

Bill Armbruster, Executive Director, Fort Monroe FADA explains the change of pace; "There is nothing like a deadline to keep you motivated. It is a bit like the night before Christmas, when you have to put together the gifts that need some assembly, there is a desire to get it just right but you have the added pressure of a finite deadline. The Commonwealth of Virginia is getting the gift of an historic town with a moated fort, set on 570 acres of land with breathtaking waterfront views but there are a lot of moving parts that have to come together before we can open the package for all the people who want to live, work and visit Fort Monroe."

The next Fort Monroe FADA board meeting on September 19, 2008 will be held at the Bay Breeze on Fort Monroe at 1 p.m. The meeting includes a two-hour workshop given by Bay Area Economics (BAE) and project structural engineers Kimley-Horn on economic impacts of decisions made about Fort Monroe. And, the Army will present their schedule of work for environmental clean-up. The critical path for the environmental clean-up has been in process for some time. The Army, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the FMFADA’s environmental consultant, Matrix Design Group, will work together to ensure an efficient schedule.

Armbruster will brief the FMFADA board on other projects in process. These include the design standards developed by restoration architects Hanbury Evans Wright and Vlattas of Norfolk. The FMFADA will begin work to plan its public programs by initiating an interpretive master planning process.

The task of this multi-month process is to explore the national significance of Fort Monroe’s history and natural resources and plan programs that will enrich public audiences who will come to the site after the Army leaves. Recommendations about the design standards and interpretive master planning will be presented by Kathleen Kilpatrick, Chairman of the Historic Preservation Advisory Group, a panel of nine experts appointed to advise the Fort Monroe FADA on historic preservation and public programs.

Editors Notes:

The Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA) meeting will be held at the Bay Breeze Community Center (490 Fenwick Road) at Fort Monroe on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. The meeting is open to the general public and media.

To enter Fort Monroe, you will need a pass. The Fort Monroe guards will give you a pass if you show an up-to-date driver's license and car registration. Passengers must show photo I.D.

Directions are available here.