"In the fall of 1994, the park identified four significant long-term goals for the preservation of precious park resources and the improvement of visitor interpretation/education capabilities.

- Provide NPS standard, environmentally-controlled space for the permanent protection and preservation of the park's world-famous collection of Civil War era artifacts and archives. The current facilities lack heat, air conditioning, humidity and dust control and fire and intrusion protection.

- Provide adequate facilities for the long term preservation and display of the Cyclorama painting, "High Tide of the Confederacy." The current building housing this painting was inadequately designed and has structurally failed, exposing the painting to both structural stress and excess humidity.

- Provide visitors with an understanding of the Gettysburg Campaign in its broad context of the Civil War and American history, and its continuing legacy to the American people. The current visitor center structure makes this impossible.

- Rehabilitate the significant historical landscapes of the Union battle lines of the 2d and 3d days of the Battle of Gettysburg. The current visitor center and Cyclorama building were both constructed on some of the most hallowed ground at Gettysburg NMP.

In January 1995 the NPS reached the decision that it was highly unlikely that appropriated funds could be obtained from Congress to resolve the current deficiencies in park facilities and achieve the park goals. Consequently, the Director of the NPS approved the concept of exploring a public-private partnership.

In April 1995 the park initiated a public planning process, to evaluate park needs and discuss the concepts of a public-private partnership. Over the subsequent year, the public had three opportunities to comment upon draft plans (totally 140 days of public review), and the park hosted seven public meetings to answer questions and collect further comments. The result of the year-long planning process was the draft "Development Concept Plan/Environmental Assessment (DCP) for the Collections Storage, Visitor & Museum Facilities" at Gettysburg NMP.

That DCP recommended that the NPS release a nation-wide Request for Proposals, to seek an appropriate partner to accomplish the park goals (above). As part of the public review process of the DCP, the public was specifically invited to comment upon the proposed evaluation criteria which would be used to analyze any proposals received in response to the RFP.

In December 1996 the NPS released a formal "Request for Proposals for Visitor Center and Museum Facilities" (RFP) at Gettysburg NMP. The RFP was open for 150 days, and attracted six responses. A national evaluation panel appointed by Regional Director Marie Rust met in May to review the proposals. After their initial analysis, the panel asked each proposer to respond with additional information on eight specific questions, with responses due in 30 days. After the responses were received, the panel met again in July and determined that two of the proposers were non-responsive to the RFP. In September, the panel interviewed the remaining four proposers. In October, after four months of analysis and evaluation, the panel briefed the Director of the NPS and his staff.

As most of you probably know, USA Today reported this morning that a decision had been made, and that Kinsley Equities of York, PA, had been selected as our partner for development of new visitor center and museum facilities. The report cited unidentified NPS "officials" as its source. The Hanover News also contained a follow-up article this afternoon.

I can comment upon a few points in those two articles - but unfortunately only a few. This is what I can tell you:

- Kinsley Equities is indeed one of the four proposers still under consideration. That's not really news, however, since we announced that fact several months ago.

- National Geographic is one of the partners on the Kinsley team.

- The site proposed by Kinsley is privately-owned, but within the park boundary, at the southwest corner of Hunt and Baltimore Avenues.

- The visitor center and museum facilities would be built at no cost to the government - as they would in all four proposals under consideration.

Here's what else I can tell you:

* - A decision has not been made. I spent all day yesterday in Washington trying to get a decision made, since we wanted to be able to announce that decision tonight. However, I was unsuccessful, and I can personally guarantee to you all that a decision has not been made. The Director has received the report from the evaluation panel, but the issue is still under consideration by appropriate officials from the NPS and Dept of Interior. Nor can I tell you for certain how soon the decision will be made. It may be within the next week, but it may take longer.

* - I can also tell you that the process of preparing the RFP, receiving, reviewing and analyzing the responses, preparing the report for the Director - as well as the process we will follow in announcing a decision once it has been made - have all been and will all be conducted in accordance with both the spirit and the letter of the law. The process which we have followed is squeaky-clean, and we have been advised every step of the way by the best legal minds in the Department of Interior's Solicitors Office.

Once the Director has announced his decision, several things will happen:

- The NPS will enter into negotiations with the selected firm, leading towards a cooperative agreement for the funding, design, construction, operations and maintenance of the facilities. If we can reach a successful conclusion to those negotiations, the agreement will be signed, but not until after the current GMP process has been completed.

- That's because we will "fold" the 1996 DCP/EA for the "Collections Storage, Visitor Center & Museum Facilities" into the GMP/EIS that we are here to talk about tonight. In fact, that's the main reason I pressed for a decision all day yesterday, so that we could start that process. Unfortunately, now, we'll all have to wait - but eventually, we'll get the opportunity to present to you the major components of the selected proposal, along with any potential environmental and/or socio-economic impacts. In other words, you will all have the opportunity to see and comment upon the selected proposal before we enter into a binding agreement.

In closing, let me state once again that the park has one purpose, and one purpose only - to achieve the 4 goals that we have been pursuing for the past three years:

- protection of our priceless collection of artifacts and archives

- protection for the world-famous Cyclorama painting

- enhanced museum exhibits to tell the story of the Gettysburg Campaign with the context of the cause and consequences of the Civil War and its impact upon the development or our nation.

- restoration of the historic landscapes of the hallowed ground of the Union battle lines upon which the current visitor center and Cyclorama buildings sit.

If we can do that, then we will have done our part in preserving our sacred resources for the enjoyment of this and all succeeding generations. Stay tuned..."