The new color of the Comfort Inn will be the light color/sand color/cream color on each end of the building. We will show you how this color appears from different parts of the battlefield. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 7:45 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
This week we will attempt to update you on other Gettysburg areas which we ignored during our obsession with the old National Park Service Visitor Center demolition. The Comfort Inn color is changing again. It’s not the gray primer we showed you in the previous post. It’s a lighter color which will help set it apart from the dark grass, leaves, and headstones on Cemetery Hill.
Of course one of our primary concerns with the Comfort Inn is its location. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 7:45 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
In February, 2008, Cumblerland Township Council members waived the regulations which would have kept the structure from cutting into Cemetery Hill, and coming so close to the property line… This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 7:45 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
… of the Evergreen Cemetery, which gave Cemetery Hill its name. The new color is on the outer edges of the structure. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 7:45 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
The new color, closest to the camera, in our opinion does not hide this building very well at all. And why should it? The owners certainly want their building to stand out and attract attention. This view was taken facing northwest at approximately 7:45 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
So let’s do our visual test from the Culp’s Hill tower. There are four distinctive objects to view here. The light green/light blue water tank on the right marks Cemetery Hill (more specifically East Cemetery Hill). This view was taken facing west at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
There’s Evergreen Cemetery. This view was taken facing west at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
There’s the Comfort Inn and above it the old Cyclorama building on Cemetery Ridge. We hope the old Cyclorama building is torn down within our lifetime to restore that section of the battlefield closer to how it looked in 1863. Having the new Comfort Inn in this area doesn’t help with those restoration efforts. This view was taken facing west at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
Well of course we can hear some of you thinking that being on the tower in the spring before the leaves come out isn’t a really fair view of what people will see later this year. So we started to drive towards McKnight’s Hill/Stevens Knoll where there aren’t (and won’t be) as many leaves at ground level, and the view doesn’t appear to be much better. This view was taken facing west at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
The Slocum equestrian statue on McKnight’s Hill/Stevens’ Knoll is on the right and the Comfort Inn is on the left. This view was taken facing west at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
Here’s the new view when one takes a picture of the monument to Greenleaf Stevens’ 5th Maine Battery. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
As we noted in our last post it doesn’t help that the National Park Service decided to remove the tree screen in this area, for reasons only known to them, so that not only the Comfort Inn, but the back of the Battlefield Military Museum are fully exposed against the dark background of Cemetery Hill. This view was taken facing west at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
Here’s the new view of one of the six pounders/”False Napoleons” marking Stevens’ Battery position on July 2nd and 3rd, 1863. This view was taken facing southwest at approximately 8:00 AM on Monday, April 13, 2009.
See the following related posts:
Comfort Inn Shows Its True Color? on March 23, 2009.
Culp’s Hill and Stevens’ Knoll Views of South Cemetery Hill on March 4, 2009.
Cemetery Hill Visual Intrusion Update on February 8, 2009.
Another Non-Historic Structure on the South Side of Cemetery Hill on December 1, 2008.
Yeah! More Subtle Cemetery Hill Construction! on December 28, 2008.
More Cemetery Hill Construction on December 30, 2008.
Licensed Battlefield Guide Rich Kohr: The Gettysburg Electric Trolley Part 1 on January 23, 2009.
