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HISTORIC FARM IN JEOPARDY
The Review, University of Delaware student newspaper
Friday, February, 11, 2005
HISTORIC FARM IN JEOPARDY
By Mike Hazeltine, Staff Reporter
The future of the historic La Grange farm in Glasgow is uncertain as a
family struggles with the costs and benefits of selling a Revolutionary War
site to a commercial developer.
Buyer Stephen J. Nichols has offered $14.25 million to buy the farm, but his
plans for the land have plagued the minds of all involved.
The historic farm is the site of the Battle of Coochıs Bridge during the
Revolutionary War and contains grave sites of soldiers, a Native Indian
encampment and trenches dug by the soldiers.
The owners of the farm include Anne Barczewski and her three children
George, Stephen Barczeweski and Joanne Barczeweski Lewis. Anne has
Alzheimerıs disease and is under the care of hospice, while Joanne is
struggling with cancer.
George Barczewski said financial concerns motivated his decision to support
Nicholsı purchase.
³My mother is in a nursing home, which is quite expensive,² he said. ³We
canıt just give the property away.²
Susan Arday, Anneıs granddaughter, is working with her mother, Lewis, as a
formidable adversary to the possible loss of the site.
Arday said she believes Nichols, who has put up a Wawa and a Kohlıs
Department Store in the area, wants to build a Target store there.
³We all know the Native Americans, British and Hessian troops have to go to
Target,² she said sarcastically.
The family is now waiting to see what plans Nichols has for the contract.
Nancy Willing, an activist for the Friends of Historic Glasgow, said she is
working to save the farm by giving public speeches and compiling a petition
that now consists of approximately 1,300 names.
The people of Delaware face losing a historically valuable piece of land,
she said.
Arday said developers have considered the 236-acre farm because of its size
in the past, but most have been deterred.
³Even the Catholic school couldnıt get my grandmother to sell the farm,²
Arday said. ³She was a proponent of education, and she was religious.²
The family was trying to sell the farm to the county, but the countyıs bid
of $9.6 million could not match Nicholsı offer.
New Castle County Representative David Tackett said the countyıs proposal
was adequate enough because it would be paid in a lump sum.
³It is governed by how much the county can spend of the tax payers dollars,²
he said.
On one side, George said he is satisfied with the decision to give the
contract to Nichols.
³Nichols is not some out-of-towner,² George said. ³He wonıt do anything
detrimental to the property or community.²
"The county was not concerned enough with preserving the land to match
Nicholsı offer," he said.
Arday said she believes the family should have accepted the countyıs offer,
instead of searching for a higher bidder.
³Itıs about greed,² she said. Arday said her wish was for the land to be
turned into a park.
However, George said the county would not maintain the land if it was
developed into a park.
³The state says we have enough parks,² he said.
The fight to preserve the land will not end once the contract with Nichols
is signed.
Tackett said Nichols will have to follow the rules and regulations of
developing.
³Nothing will move forward until all tısı are crossed and iısı dotted,² he
said.
Willing said the biggest question is what Nichols has planned for the farm.
³By law it is going to be preserved,² she said. ³You canıt just have a piece
of land and do whatever you want with it.²
Trees and wetlands cover the land, making some of it unusable, Willing said.
Arday said the Historic Review Board will have to assess anything before it
is changed on the land.
³I wonder how many trees Nichols will knock down,² she said.
Willing said it is possible Nichols might withdraw from the contract.
³The contract is weak,² she said. ³There is not a lot of wiggle room, not a
lot he can do with the land.²
Arday hopes people in the area see the importance of the La Grange farm.
³I would expect people who live there to be passionate. This is their
quality of life,² she said. ³People will lose their sense of place, their
sense of history.²
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