GSA Publishes Lorton Environmental Assessment

GSA # 9846

July 9, 2001
Contact: Viki Reath (202) 501-1231
viki.reath@gsa.gov

Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) today announced that 552 acres have been designated as eligible to be a historical district, under an agreement signed as part of the Environmental Assessment of the Proposed Disposal of the Lorton Correctional Complex, Fairfax County, Va.

The assessment's publication today concludes an 18-month process to identify ways to mitigate potential adverse effects transferring the 2,700-acre property to Fairfax County will have on the community.

"We were very sensitive to the historic and archeological issues, working throughout the process with Congress, the Lorton Heritage Society, the State Historic Preservation Office, the county's historical society and government officials and other residents, state and federal historic preservation officials," said F. Joseph Moravec, GSA Public Buildings Commissioner. "We established a process that will address these issues in perpetuity. "Congress made it easy to do this, because legislation directed us to transfer the entire Lorton property as a whole to Fairfax County, triggering the requirement to scrutinize the reuse plan's effects on a large area."

A June 29 agreement among the State Historic Preservation Officer, GSA, Fairfax County, the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the Lorton Heritage Society and the Federation of Lorton Communities ensures that the County Architect will examine all projects proposed within the historic district.

The reuse plan designates most of the Lorton property to be used for open space, parks and recreation, with approximately 200 acres allocated for residential development and approximately 100 acres for education.

The environmental assessment is being mailed to all the participants in the assessment process and also will be available on the GSA web site and at the Lorton and Pohick public libraries. For more information, please visit GSA's Lorton web site at: http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/lorton.