Moving Day at Gettysburg
Well it was moving day over at the Gettysburg Visitors Center. Note the van to the right of the entrance:
Inside, the museum was already being torn down. One of my favorite places to stroll through was the artillery display. While I know the pieces are being well handled and will be on display at the new Visitors Center, this view just caused me to pause:
As I was navigating to my selected stops, at first I thought someone had started a Mega-McMansion to the east of Taneytown Road:
On closer observation that turned out to be the new Visitors Center. In all seriousness, the external “feel” of the building does blend well. Arguably it is too large, but the texture and form is what the eyes want to see in profile for a structure at that location. Some will fuss that it is too much or too obtrusive, but I predict it will grow to be liked in time.
My only complaint would be how this new Visitors Center works into the park’s traffic flow plan. Right now, Gettysburg is mostly a drive around park. Sure there are plenty of foot paths to walk, but the park isn’t what one could call hiker friendly. Too many road crossing points. Not enough right of way beside the roads. Just not much of an incentive to get the average visitor out of the car. Worse, during the summer months, the proliferation of the tour buses makes the parking area look like a metro bus hub. Now with the Visitors Center placed in a secluded section of the park, more than a casual walk from those “Holy of Holy” sites on Cemetery Hill and Little Round Top, my fear is even fewer folks will get out of the cars. Or if they do, it will be at the various waysides (both on and off designated parking pads) which are already congested.
On the positive, it had been easily seven or eight years since I last visited the East Cavalry Battlefield. If you ask me, that is the park’s crown jewel. With limited monumentation and a lot of open spaces, that section of the park is like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you see it), not many visitors venture over that way. Certainly worth the four mile drive if you are at Gettysburg.
