National Park Service superintendents generally avoid injecting themselves into local affairs. So, when they speak out, you know it’s a big deal.
We paid close attention when we learned that the new superintendent of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, Kristopher Butcher, recently wrote to Prince William County officials expressing his grave concerns that the vast spread of data centers projected for the Prince William Digital Gateway would mar the park and lead to the “wholesale destruction” of nearby historic landscapes.
Butcher is calling for additional research, analysis and proactive mitigation efforts before any of the pending rezoning applications are approved to ensure the park and other historic sites are protected from impacts caused by 28 to 34 data centers planned for the proposed 2,133-acre PW Digital Gateway. Votes on these applications are scheduled for Nov. 21 during a lame-duck session of the county board.
And it’s not just an issue for Manassas National Battlefield Park. Data centers are proposed to be built adjacent to or near other significant Civil War battlefields in Virginia, including the Wilderness, Brandy Station, Glendale and North Anna. This explosion of data centers is one of the largest and most widespread episodes of land development this area has ever seen and represents one of the gravest threats to the preservation of historic landscapes in the Old Dominion.
The rapacious demand for larger digital facilities has prompted would-be developers associated with the PW Digital Gateway to design most of the centers at heights of 70 or 93 feet. The tallest would tower higher than eight-story buildings, becoming hideous backdrops for this picturesque and bucolic viewshed.
Data centers also degrade the quality of life for local residents. Homeowners in the Great Oak subdivision just west of Manassas have had their lives disrupted by the constant buzzing and humming of the industrial air conditioners needed to cool data center servers. Data centers require sufficient backup generators to power a small town, creating untold noise and air pollution. This is the reality that lies ahead for homeowners adjacent to the PW Digital Gateway.
We also share Superintendent Butcher’s alarm regarding some of the gateway’s southernmost data centers, which are projected to be built directly adjacent to the National Park. They would not only impact the historic battlefield and its viewshed but could also obliterate the graves of soldiers who camped in this area and died in a measles outbreak during the fall and winter of 1862. We fully support the superintendent’s request that ground-penetrating radar and other research be conducted before any rezoning is approved to ensure that no soldiers’ graves are destroyed during construction.
Further, the northern segment of the gateway also includes a historic African American settlement and school that Butcher describes as “a rare and vanishing resource.” As a result of this and other impacts, we support Butcher’s call for a full historic study of the area as well as a cultural landscape report.
Those of us who work in historic preservation have demonstrated time and time again that with careful planning and cooperation, growth can be accommodated, and our history can be preserved. We urge the board to heed the warnings of Superintendent Butcher and countless others who have warned that the Pageland Lane corridor is no place for a cluster of data centers: Reject rezoning this location and find an alternative site.
David Duncan is president of the American Battlefield Trust. Scott Neese is president of the Manassas Battlefield Trust. Both nonprofits are dedicated to battlefield preservation.