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Preservation Conference Features Panel Discussion About I-81

In October 2008, Jennings Gap President John Hutchinson was invited to participate in the 2008 Virginia Preservation Conference “Preserving for the Future: A Capital Idea!”

The conference, co-sponsored by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and APVA-Preservation Virginia, was held in Richmond in early October. It explored creative solutions that historic preservation is bringing to the challenges faced by communities throughout Virginia.


Jennings Gap President John Hutchinson was invited to participate in the 2008 Virginia Preservation Conference Preserving for the Future: A Capital Idea!

The conference, co-sponsored by the Virginia Department of Historic Resource, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities / Preserve Virginia was held in Richmond in early October. It explored creative solutions that historic preservation is bringing to the challenges communities across Virginia face.

As part of an ambitious agenda that addressed a variety of subjects including sustainability, rural and urban planning, cultural, and cultural landscapes Mr. Hutchinson made a presentation regarding his work with various organizations to derail plans by the Virginia Department of Transportation to massively expand Interstate 81 in the Shenandoah Valley.

Hutchinson also participated in a panel discussion that addressed how conservation and preservation groups have successfully battled a $14 billion plan to create a tolled, eight to 12 land truck highway on I-81 through the historic Shenandoah Valley and southwest Virginia. Hutchinson worked with Valley residents, truckers, poultry growers, and many other allies to block a road project that was so costly and destructive that the I-81 corridor was named one of Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Sites by APVA Preservation Virginia in 2006.

Hutchinson’s presentation focused on his successful leadership of a coalition that lobbied the General Assembly to withhold funding for the worst aspects of the proposed construction project during the 2008 legislative session.



Learn more about the I-81 lobbying effort>


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