Aug 01, 2008 - 04:06:19 CDT
BILLINGS, Mont. - Historians and former National Park Service employees filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to halt a proposed expansion of the visitor center at Montana's Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
The expansion would be at the foot of Last Stand Hill, where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and other members of the U.S. Army 7th Calvary were killed by Sioux Indians in 1876.
A lawsuit asks a federal judge to halt the project and require new environmental and historic reviews. The plaintiffs said the $1.1 million expansion - to house a 200-seat theater and waiting area - would be a blemish on the battlefield site and defy the park service's long-term goal of moving the entire visitor center. They want the theater built elsewhere.
Two weeks ago, Park Service Regional Director Mike Snyder delayed the expansion for a re-evaluation. But plaintiffs' attorney Paula Dinerstein said officials have not committed to a full public review.
The project already has the approvals needed to move forward.
"They just said we're going to look at this a little more," she said. "They've made the finding that there's no significant impact on the environment, that there's no adverse effect on historic properties. We're challenging whether those legal documents are valid."
Park Service spokesman James Doyle in Denver acknowledged the expansion runs counter to the park service's long-term plans for the battlefield. In 2006 the park service estimated a new visitor center would cost $11.1 million.
"That's still our goal," Doyle said. "Congress hasn't made available to us that level of funding."
He said the expansion was needed "to get people out of the elements and be able to show our movies to people who are handicapped - things we can't do now."
Construction had been slated to begin in 2009. Doyle said that date is now uncertain pending the re-evaluation.
The suit was filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility on behalf of twelve plaintiffs, including three former superintendents of the monument and several historians.
"This is where the key part of that battle took place," said Justin Haas with PEER. "To build (the expansion) on that hill seems antithetical to the purpose of the park."
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.