Friends of Historic Glasgow (Delaware)

Historic Farm in Jeopardy (2/11/05)

The Review article

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 $14.6 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 Cooch’s 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 Alzheimer’s disease and is under the care of hospice, while Joanne is struggling with cancer.

George Barczewski said financial concerns motivated his decision to support Nichols’ purchase.

“My mother is in a nursing home, which is quite expensive,” he said. “We can’t just give the property away.”

Susan Arday, Anne’s 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 Kohl’s Department Store in the area, wants to build a Target store there.

“We all know the Native American, American and Hessian troops have to go to Target,” she said sarcastically.

The family is now waiting to see what plans Nichols has for the contract.

Nancy Willing, an activist for the Historic Friends of Delaware, 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.

“Even the Catholic school couldn’t get my grandmother to sell the farm,” Arday said. “She was a proponent of education, and she was religious.”

The family was trying to sell the farm to the county, but the county’s bid of $9.6 million could not match Nichols’ offer.

New Castle County Representative David Tackett said the county’s proposal was adequate enough because it would be paid in a lump sum.

“It is governed by how much the county can spend of the tax payers dollars,” he said.

On one side, George said he is satisfied with the decision to give the contract to Nichols.

“Nichols is not some out-of-towner,” George said. “He won’t do anything detrimental to the property or community.”

"The county was not concerned enough with preserving the land to match Nichols’ offer," he said.

Arday said she believes the family should have accepted the county’s offer, instead of searching for a higher bidder.

“It’s about greed,” 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.

“The state says we have enough parks,” 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.

“Nothing will move forward until all ‘t’s’ are crossed and ‘i’s’ dotted,” he said.

Willing said the biggest question is what Nichols has planned for the farm. “By law it is going to be preserved,” she said. “You can’t just have a piece of land and do whatever you want with it.”

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.

“I wonder how many trees Nichols will knock down,” she said.

Willing said it is possible Nichols might withdraw from the contract.

“The contract is weak,” she said. “There is not a lot of wiggle room, not a lot he can do with the land.”

Arday hopes people in the area see the importance of the La Grange farm.

“I would expect people who live there to be passionate. This is their quality of life,” she said. “People will lose their sense of place, their sense of history.”

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