The Gettystower

A CENTURY after the Union Army turned back General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg, the little southeast Pennsylvania town has degenerated into a tourist trap. Fried-chicken stands, ice cream palaces and motels clutter the surroundings of what Lincoln called consecrated ground. Two years ago, Maryland Entrepreneur Thomas Ottenstein announced plans to erect the most garish attraction yet: a modernistic 307-ft. observation tower overlooking the battleground, complete with $750,000 worth of audio-visual equipment to provide what Ottenstein calls a "classroom in the sky."

Pennsylvania Attorney General J. Shane Creamer, who calls it a "cash register in the sky," is fighting Ottenstein through the courts. Although Gettysburg has no zoning laws, Creamer bases his case on a recent state constitutional amendment intended to assure the citizenry of its right to "the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic virtues of the environment." He has called on such notables as Architect Louis Kahn and Historian Bruce Catton to testify on the state's behalf. County Court Judge John A. MacPhail recently turned Creamer down, however, ruling that "historical Gettysburg has already been raped," and also noting that an Interior Department agreement with Ottenstein implied approval --a contention the department now denies. Creamer is moving the conflict this week to the Commonwealth Court, the state's intermediate appeals court. Ottenstein remains confident, adding: "As long as the laws tell me I'm right, I see no reason why I can't build the tower."

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