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Blueprint for Fort Monroe taking shape

Fort Monroe's grocery store would be converted to a visitor center where tourists will be encouraged to park their cars, then take a walk - or ride a bike - to explore the bayfront property. Shuttle buses will circulate, too, dropping visitors inside the nation's largest moated stone fort, at the beach or next to a marsh overlook.

Those are some of the plans presented Tuesday at this historic Army post, which becomes state property in September 2011.

The fate of the 570-acre site at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay has been discussed and argued over since the government announced the base's closure in 2005. Now, after years of preliminary planning, focus groups and town hall meetings, the state-appointed authority overseeing the transition has a blueprint for how it will handle an expected 250,000 visitors annually.

Developed by a Pennsylvania-based firm called Interpretive Solutions, the "draft interpretive master plan" revolves around six core themes: the natural environment, Virginia Indians, the African American experience, the Civil War, defense of the nation and Old Point Comfort resorts....
Read entire article at Hampton Roads Pilot