Plans to build data centers opposite the Manassas National Battlefield Park are being opposed. Critics are warning that the proposal, known as "PW Digital Gateway", is the "Single greatest threat to Manassas National Battlefield Park in nearly three decades," compromising the environmental integrity of the parks.
The park's superintendent, Brandon Bies, has subsequently issued two letters outlining his opposition to the data centers. He outlined: "I believe that the intensive development of the Pageland Lane corridor is the single greatest threat to Manassas National Battlefield Park in nearly three decades." He went on to compare the impact of the proposal to two back in the late 1980s and the early 1990's that "galvanized the historic preservation movement and garnered nationwide attention."
Adding: "I believe that as more people throughout Prince William County – and across the nation – become aware of this proposal and its impact on the Park, the Board of County Supervisors will face a similar outcry."
Bies stated that the Park provides the company with job creation, economic output, nd open space, which, he said, could be "forever changed" if the county decides to go ahead with its plans to intensively develop the rural area "along the park's western edge."
