Fort McHenry stirs emotions, NPS official says

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Still, she explains, she had never experienced the magical feeling that Fort McHenry can evoke. Having the flag and the National Anthem together elicits strong emotions, she says, pointing to American award ceremonies at the Olympics as an example. To have that combination at the place where it all began, she adds, is unique. “And, it happens every day here – for small children, for veterans, for families traveling across the country.”

A few days before the start of Defenders Day weekend – one of Fort McHenry’s highest-profile events during the year – Vietzke looks forward to a packed schedule of activities and a visit from Maryland’s governor. She anticipates a two-day crowd of 15,000 visitors.

Whether Gov. Martin O’Malley arrives in an 1812-era uniform on horseback or in street clothes, “it’s great for the morale of everyone here,” Vietzke says. She has a staff of 30 at Fort McHenry, which doubles during the summer. The park also has approximately 100 volunteers.

Defenders Day is a time for commemoration and celebration, she says. “Both are appropriate.” The day was established to honor the American soldiers, sailors and citizens who thwarted a British attack on Baltimore in September 1814 – first at North Point and then at Fort McHenry – during the latter stages of the War of 1812.

It was the morning after the all-night bombardment of Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key, on a boat in the Baltimore harbor, saw the fort’s over-sized flag still waving and was inspired to write a poem that eventually became the lyrics for the National Anthem.

New visitor center
Gazing out from her office inside the visitor center at Fort McHenry, Vietzke sees construction crews at work. A new visitor center is under construction and is expected to open next fall.

The new center is designed to accommodate 750,000 annual visitors. It will have more than 17,000 square feet of space – tripling the size of the existing facility. “This (current) one was built in the 1960s and designed to accommodate 250,000 visitors a year,” she says. “We’re now at 600,000 (visitors) a year and the building is worn out.”

When she arrived at Fort McHenry, Vietzke said a conceptual plan for a new visitor center had been devised. Acquiring the funds to build it had become the prevailing concern.

Sen. Paul Sarbanes (now retired) and Sen. Ben Cardin (then a member of the House) led an effort to secure funding, she says. Congress eventually appropriated $11 million for the project through the Transportation Reauthorization Bill of 2005. Then, she adds, because the construction cost of the new center was above $14 million, the city and state each committed matching funds in excess of $1.4 million.

The new visitor center will house exhibits, an auditorium, staff offices, a bookstore and a library. It will also be closer to the water-taxi dock, allowing visitors to shuttle to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor or Fells Point. She adds: “Of course, we’re excited about the new center – the main attraction is still the fort, though.”

In addition to augmenting the park with a state-of-the-art “green” facility, the center will accentuate Fort McHenry’s draw as a signature attraction in Baltimore, she says, which enhances the park’s role as a hub for regional tourism. State officials also view Fort McHenry as a gateway for the War of 1812 bicentennial events that begin in 2010.

Fittingly, the fort will get some needed work. An infusion of stimulus funds will enable the Park Service to restore the fort’s historic shutters and make the property more energy-efficient, Vietzke says. “It’s an 18th-century building with 19th-century improvements.” She notes that solar-powered panels will be used to light the flag (it’s required to fly 24 hours a day, seven days a week) and to light portions of the parking lot.

Superintendent at Hampton
Vietzke’s role as superintendent at Fort McHenry comes with the superintendent’s job at Hampton National Historic Site in Baltimore County. The obvious difference between running Hampton and Fort McHenry, she observes, relates to scale – 40,000 visitors versus 600,000.

Hampton is a 63-acre property that includes Hampton Mansion, a huge Georgian-style structure built between 1783 and 1790. When it was completed, it was the largest house in the country. The Ridgely family, which included one of Maryland’s early governors, owned the estate.

After three years of renovations, the mansion re-opened in November 2007. “It’s not just a mansion with a lot of beautiful objects,” Vietzke says. “It’s a place where active learning (about a bygone era) takes place. It’s also a place where people can talk frankly about the era of slavery in Maryland.”

She points out that Hampton’s allure is in synch with the themes of Baltimore County’s overall approach toward tourism, namely: history; parks; local agriculture and wine; and horses. Hampton has all of that, she says, noting that the Ridgely’s were involved with the Maryland Jockey Club.

A native of Connecticut, Vietzge studied the management of historic sites during her coursework in the University of Pennsylvania’s graduate program for historic preservation. “I’ve always been attracted to real places,” she says.