[VAcourier] Lexington Council approves proposal for museum

[Virginia Division SCV Communication List]

[Lexington] Council approves proposal for museum


    The proposal is to entice the Museum of the Confederacy to move to
    Lexington.

Jay Conley and Amanda Codispoti

LEXINGTON -- A controversial proposal to entice a Confederate-themed 
Civil War museum to relocate from Richmond to Lexington will move 
forward, city officials have decided.

By a 4-2 vote Thursday night, the Lexington City Council approved a 
proposal prepared by the Rockbridge Area Tourism Board that will be sent 
today to the Museum of the Confederacy, spelling out how the facility 
could locate the world's largest collection of Civil War artifacts to 
the Old Rockbridge County Courthouse on Main Street.

"I do not want the Museum of the Confederacy to divide our community," 
Councilman Jack Page said, but added that he had to vote in the best 
interests of the city in supporting moving the proposal forward.

Councilwoman Mimi Elrod said one of the reasons she voted against the 
proposal was that a Confederate-themed museum would create divisiveness 
in the community and offend black residents who view the Confederacy as 
synonymous with slavery.

"This is a divisive issue," Elrod said. "The very sad thing about it is 
that it's not going to go away." She said she also voted against it 
because the museum is not financially stable.

Voting for the proposal were Jim Gianniny, Frank Friedman, Tim Golden 
and Page. Voting no were Elrod and Ron Smith.

The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted earlier 
this week to authorize sending the proposal to the museum.

Since January, Rockbridge and Lexington officials have been working with 
area tourism officials to broker a deal to renovate the courthouse 
facility and create tax incentives to attract the museum.

Supporters of the museum say Lexington and the Rockbridge area stand to 
collect an estimated $1 million annually in tax revenue from tourist 
dollars that the museum is expected to bring with it.

About a dozen Virginia localities are vying to attract the museum and 
have until Sunday to submit proposals. Waite Rawls, the museum's 
executive director, said museum officials will narrow that field to 
about three soon and begin more serious discussions.

The museum's cramped quarters in downtown Richmond can only display 
about 10 percent of the collection at a time. Limited parking, the lack 
of nearby restaurants and the encroaching Virginia Commonwealth 
University medical center are also detractions.

The museum attracts about 50,000 visitors a year.

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