Hotel at Valley Forge Park put off

Depending on your point of view, the structure was going to be a scholar's dormitory that would enhance historical understanding of Valley Forge - or a hotel that would speed the commercialization of a treasured national park.

Either way, its construction is now in serious doubt.

The head of the American Revolution Center, a controversial museum complex planned for 78 acres of private land inside the park, yesterday announced a voluntary 15-year moratorium on building a particularly contentious piece of the project, the conference center.

ARC president and chief executive officer Bruce Cole said the decision was the result of an ongoing evaluation of ARC's purpose and mission, and a desire to focus on core programming.

The conference center has consistently been presented as an integral part of the $375 million development, one of its three major components, joining a museum and a trailhead building. It was to stand four stories tall and provide up to 99 rooms for lodging.

Opponents of ARC greeted yesterday's move with cautious optimism.

"It's a great first step," said Deirdre Gibson, the park's chief of planning and resource management. "Up until now, it's just been a relentless drive to develop."

Gibson testified during zoning hearings that building the museum complex would do serious damage to the national park, both to its natural landscape and its historic character. Yesterday, while welcoming the moratorium, she pointed out that "the zoning, which allows an astonishing amount of future development, isn't going away. That's still there."

In an interview yesterday, Cole reiterated what he said when he took over in January: Everything is on the table except for moving the site.

"The sole mission of ARC is a museum and education programs - local, national and international," he said. "I hope that this 15-year moratorium will allow us to move forward and work with everyone who is concerned with ARC."

He called the halt "a true moratorium that we revisit in 15 years. That's way down the road. ... We have to stick to our mission and only build both physically and virtually what is appropriate for ARC."

Eliminating the conference center would substantially reduce the cost of the project - no figures were available yesterday - and shrink the area used for construction.

In January, Cole said ARC would proceed with plans to build on property north of the Schuylkill, but that everything else about the project - its size, design and layout - was up for review. Until yesterday, the project consisted of a three-story museum, the hotel and conference center, and a trailhead structure containing bike racks and bathrooms.

ARC's 78 acres are virtually surrounded by national park land. The organization has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for May, but has not released a timetable for construction of the museum and trailhead building.

In a long and contentious approval process, ARC won vote after vote before the Lower Providence Board of Supervisors and the township zoning board, which has jurisdiction over the property. But it provoked enormous hostility among opponents. Park Service officials, nonprofit-group leaders and park neighbors insist the construction of ARC will desecrate a national landmark.

The project also faces a challenge in federal court from several Lower Providence property owners and the National Parks Conservation Association.

"This certainly sounds like a step in the right direction," Joy Oakes, senior director of the NPCA's Mid-Atlantic office, said after learning of the moratorium. But, she asked, "What happens in 15 years? The zoning would still allow a lot of inappropriate things to be built.

"The larger question is, is this the right site for a museum? ... I think a reasonable person can say it isn't."

ARC enacted the moratorium after consulting with government officials in Lower Providence.

"The 15-year moratorium on the conference center allows the focus to fall on the museum and its integrated education program, the most important aspects of the project," Township Manager Joseph Dunbar said in a statement.

ARC also released partial results of a Zogby poll that it said showed broad support among Lower Providence Township residents for the development.

"One of the things I'm doing," Cole said, "is trying to raise the profile of ARC in the region, but also nationally and internationally. I've been going and meeting lots and lots of people - quite a few people who are supportive."