European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 05, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse We Grant s doom a legacy of neglect and Dishonour. By Harry Mcshane the associated press he general who lost the civil War lies in genteel eternal repose in a Pristine mausoleum inside an Ivy covered Limestone and Brick Chapel on a verdant College Campus in Northwestern Virginia. About 350 Miles North of the final resting place of Robert e. Lee is the Tomb of the general who won the War Ulysses s. Grant. It s a hangout for drunks dope smokers the dispossessed. Here Granite pillars scarred by vandals and neglect provide shelter for the homeless. Makeshift Beds of plastic bags newspapers and blankets lie beside a pile of trash. There s a bottle of thunderbird wine just up the deteriorating Steps from a bottle of malt liquor. Around the Corner is an empty $10 bag of marijuana. Grant s Tomb has Long been a punchline. Groucho Marx asked contestants on you bet your life who was buried there. These Days the Tomb of America s 18th president is just a joke although nobody s really laughing. All four Walls of the general Grant National memorial opened 96 years ago to hold the civil War s greatest hero Are badly stained from two decades of Graffiti and the Rigours of its removal. The name of one Vandal Rase is visible three times on the Tomb. Grant s name does not appear at All. It was t always this Way. The Tomb opened april 27,1897, funded by $600,000 in donations from 90,000 americans. Standing 150 feet tall on a Bluff above the Hudson River in new York City the Tomb was dedicated on the 75th anniversary of Grant s birth. Tens of thousands of people turned out As warships fired salutes and the memorial outdraw the statue of Liberty in its Early years. Times change As Grant s Tomb aged badly lady Liberty received a $66 million face lift in the mid-1980s. Officials say that red tape will make any major cleaning of the exterior of the Tomb impossible for at least two More years. Meanwhile garbage blows across the cracked stones of its Plaza where weeds and grass sprout unchecked. Bird droppings foul its base. It is left undefended unguarded uncured for says John y. Simon executive director of the Ulysses s. 22 closer look a homeless Man seeks Refuge in a cardboard Box at the entry to new York s general Grant National memorial better known As Grant s Tomb Grant association. The situation there has simply become it gets worse. Workers arrived one morning last May to find someone had defecated outside the Tomb s Entrance and run a garbage can up its flagpole according to a National Parks service Volunteer. The homeless routinely use the Tomb As a bathroom legitimate visitors find there Are no bathrooms for them. Of the afternoon of veterans Day a gorgeous sunny autumn Day the Tomb was closed to the Public. It was just As Well inside where Grant and his wife Julia Are entombed there Are More problems. The mausoleum is poorly lit some exhibits Are inaccurate and the place could use a thorough cleaning. A rare 1843 photo of a 21 year old Grant was stolen two years ago and never replaced. Another Large photo identified As Grant is actually someone else says nos Volunteer Frank Scaturro. The Tomb the largest mausoleum in the United states is open just five Days a week eight hours a Day. For the other 128 hours the Park service ignores the site no Security no rangers no maintenance Crews. The National Park service has totally abdicated responsibility for the site says Scaturro a Columbia University senior who has worked at the Tomb since 1991. The Lee Chapel on the Lexington va., Campus of Washington and Lee University stays open seven Days a week a quiet place for meditation and reflection according to administrators. The Chapel underwent a $370,000 total renovation in 1962-63, says . Penniston director of the facility. What about Graffiti since then any vandals no no no. If we caught them we d break their arms the retired . Navy Captain says. In 17 years i be never seen anything like that. People come in Here very a recently formed advocacy group 7he memorial for the 18th . President was once Drew More visitors than the statue of Liberty. The friends of Grant s Tomb blame the problems on the Park service which took Over the site 34 years ago from the private Grant memorial association. The Parks service does not maintain decent Security Simon says it s in a neighbourhood where other people do. Consequently the undesirables congregate at Grant s Tomb. They cannot at Columbia University. They cannot at Riverside Church. In effect they have been Given Grant s the creation of a Community task Force in Early 1992 helped reduce some problems but nothing s been solved officials acknowledge. We still have some incident reports reflecting certain types of anti social behaviour understates Joe Avery acting superintendent of Manhattan Sites. Word of the site s problems filter Back to Grant s descendants who Are More sad than angry. I Don t know what to say. It s too bad says 85-year-old Edith Grant Griffiths the president s great granddaughter from her Home in fort Belvoir a. People keep bringing the subject up but nobody has a solution that is Grant s Tomb takes Back seat to big three by the associated press Frank Scaturro 21, has prepared a 300-plus Page report on the myriad problems of Grant s Tomb. He recounts the mornings when the smell of urine from unwanted overnight guests forced him to hold his breath and run insiders remembers the Post fourth of july firecracker assault on one of the Large eagles outside the -.Tomb. a. The Bottom of the Eagle s beak was blown off in july 1992. Nearly a year and a half later the damaged statue has not been repaired. The Parks service blames a Lack of funds. And the social ills that plague the whole City homelessness addiction delinquency. There s also a catch-22 Money goes to More popular Sites and visitors go to better kept Sites. The Parks service claims 100,000 people a year still visit. George m. Craig of the friends of Grant s Tomb says he believes the actual number is Only about 40,000 a Contention backed by Scaturro. Such problems Don t plague the big three presidential memorials in Washington the Lincoln memorial the Jefferson memorial and the Washington Monument. Graffiti is instantly removed. Cleaning Crews come in every Day. Personnel or Park police have the Sites under almost constant supervision. The government spends $1.15 million on maintenance alone at the Washington Monument $773,650 at the Jefferson memorial and $733,419 at the Lincoln memorial. The total annual budget for Grant s Tomb including the salaries for three rangers two maintenance workers and All operating costs is $323,000. But it s not just the big Sites that get the big Bucks. At president William Mckinley s grave in Canton Ohio a seven year $3 million restoration project is nearly Complete. There have been some improvements at Grant s Tomb Over the last two years. The mausoleum s upper level with its breathtaking View of the Hudson recently reopened. It had been off limits because there was no one to work upstairs. I m optimistic. I think Well be Able to pull this off says Craig whose group Hopes to raise private funds to help out. It won t be immediate. But if we pump some Money in maybe people will Start to look and a t sick can Nui a the car Tel 62 Caba Sara Tor b of a Mitre a of a of i i Frank Scaturro an inveterate Grant Buff leaves the nation s largest mausoleum. The stars and stripes wednesday january 5,1994 a
