A bipartisan contingent of House lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation that would shift several acres of coastal land to the Fort Monroe National Monument.
The measure would unify two divided sections on the former military post to create an unbroken and federally managed coastline along the Chesapeake Bay, according to a news release from Rep. Elaine Luria.
The Norfolk Democrat is co-sponsoring the Fort Monroe National Monument Land Acquisition Act along with Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, Rep. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico and Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland.
If signed into law, it would transfer 44 acres of property now owned by Virginia and require the Secretary of the Interior to work with the state to solve issues with managing several non-historic buildings at Fort Monroe.
“Fort Monroe was the site of so many defining moments in our nation’s history,” Luria said in her release. “(We need) to ensure that we can properly remember Fort Monroe’s rich history and keep it accessible for future generations.”
Last year, the top park service official, deputy director Paul Daniel “Dan” Smith, rejected the same parcel after the Fort Monroe Authority attempted to offer it during a Board of Trustees meeting.
The land includes the Wherry Quarters, parts of Outlook Beach and several former Army buildings along Fenwick Road.
At the time, Smith said the U.S. Department of Interior had other acquisition and maintenance projects already in the pipeline. Also, the buildings within the area needed remediation from hazardous contaminants.
In 2011, Fort Monroe was designated a national monument and sections within the 565-acre military post are now managed by the National Park Service.
Fort Monroe is the country’s largest stone fort, built on the Chesapeake Bay at Old Point Comfort.
Old Point Comfort is the site where the first documented Africans arrived to English North America in 1619. Last month, Hampton Roads commemorated the 400th anniversary of that arrival.
In July, Virginia’s Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Mark R. Warner introduced a companion bill.
Fort Monroe and its legacy transcends politics, making it crucial to collaborate with the Senate, Luria said.
