| Possible Civil War site in way of road work | ||
A lawsuit seeks to stop a road-widening project that would damage an alleged Civil War site. 01/15/05 |
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A lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Rome seeks to stop a road-widening project that it claims would damage a Civil War earthwork fort on DeSoto Hill. The suit, filed by David Fowler Jr. and the Fort Attaway Preservation Society, accuses the Federal Highway Administration and its southern division administrator, Robert M. Callan, of violating environmental and historical considerations that are required by federal law. The road project in question — proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation and to be partially paid for by the Federal Highway Administration — would widen Martha Berry Boulevard/U.S. 27 to five lanes near John Davenport Road. In the process, the Norfolk Southern railroad bridge above the road would be rebuilt and the tracks relocated to the south of their current path. Fowler says the new railroad path would encroach into the fort’s boundary. He and his family live on DeSoto Hill, and he owns 8 acres, including part of the 2 acres that make up the site in question. “They’re going to destroy about half of what is the northern face (of the fort),” he said. “They want to build a road. They don’t care about our history.” The lawsuit, prepared by Atlanta attorney Jon L. Schwartz, asks that the court declare the defendants in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Protection Act, section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. It also asks the court to stop the highway administration from paying for or authorizing any project that would damage Fort Attaway. Fowler’s suit states the Georgia Historic Preservation Division has acknowledged the site’s historical significance and called it “an excellent local example of a Civil War-era fortification, for its direct associations with local events and activities related to the Civil War.” The Rome News-Tribune could not reach officials with the Historic Preservation Division on Friday. The highway administration and state Department of Transportation have contended that the fort’s boundary is outside the proposed right of way for the new railroad path, the lawsuit states. Fort Attaway is one of a series of Civil War forts on the hills surrounding Rome’s downtown and rivers, Fowler says. The earthwork forts were essentially a series of ditches from which militiamen could watch out for the approaching enemy and fire on him. Remains of another sit atop Jackson Hill, above the Greater Rome Convention and Visitors Bureau. |
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