Manassas contributes money to help with Civil War anniversary

Manassas, Va. - Plans are coming together for the happenings on the 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial, of the Civil War in Manassas in 2011.

The Manassas City Council recently jumped in with $154,400 to help Historic Manassas Inc. and the Manassas Museum with events leading to the commemoration from July 21 to July 24.

The Manassas Museum Associates contributed another $20,000 to the cause.

The money will pay for salaries and benefits for a year of two part-time historic interpreters, as well as exhibits and events in 2010 and 2011 leading to the anniversary.

The celebrations will include tours of Manassas, battlefield demonstrations, Civil War encampments, museum exhibits, events at Liberia House and cemetery tours, said Elizabeth Via-Gossman, the director of community development in Manassas.

Creston M. Owen, chairman of the board of Historic Manassas Inc., was at the Manassas City Council meeting Monday asking the council to allocate the money.

Owen told the council that there would be considerable money coming to the area with the celebrations and that the city would be able to make money beyond the sesquicentennial.

A study compiled by the Civil War Preservation Trust shows that Civil War enthusiasts spent roughly $244 million in visiting Civil War battlefields across the country in 2007, Owen said.

Visitors to the other battlefields, which include Antietam in Maryland, Winchester, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania in Virginia and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, spend an average of $51 per person per day for food, accommodations, museum admissions and shopping, Owen told the city council.

The Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania battlefield bring $229,000 for local governments annually, and the Winchester Battlefield produces $96,000 for local government, the report showed.

Manassas Battlefield was not included in the study.

"If we get something going, I think we can get some kind of economic engine that will help us fill our vacancies in Old Town and get some new businesses started," Owen said.

The study showed that it takes an average of 956 visitors to support one full-time job independent of the battlefield.

Jonathan L. Way, who customarily wears a tea bag on his lapel, said people have asked him how he can be a tea partier and support spending money on something that doesn't necessarily represent a core government function.

Way said the sesquicentennial celebrations will fit in with the fabric of what Manassas is about.

"This activity really is a city function. It is ... probably the main part of the historical character of the city and it's what keeps us from being just a bunch of dull and uninteresting bedrooms," he said "It's a massive series of events. This is something that we have to have for our vision, and it's something that's the right thing to do."

Councilman Mark Wolfe agreed with Way and said that working to bring people to the city for the celebrations would pay off.

"All of this is a part of a broader effort with Manassas Next and success in our schools to improve our community, to brand our community, to bring jobs, to bring money to the community, to compete for residents and business," Wolfe said. "You have to have a broad-based strategy to do this. This is one part of that strategy."

Wolfe said the opportunity to extend the effects of the celebration were "tremendous."

"If we're successful with this, it will not be a one-trick pony. This could be a sustainable, ongoing part of our economy," he said.

Councilwoman Cheryl L. Bass said she thought spending the money was a "great plan."

"This is a huge function of the city," she said.

Senior Reporter Keith Walker can be reached at 703-369-6751.