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Legion Ville, Protesters Trying to Keep Strip Mall from Historic Site

The Beaver County Times
by Torsten Ove
May 10, 1994

HARMONY TWP.- Seated behind the wheel of his Lincoln Town Car on Monday afternoon, B. Paul Mouradian held forth on the future of historic Legionville. His attitude: Full speed ahead and damn the history. "I’m interested in one thing," he said, "to develop this property and make a living for myself." Behind him, a team of archaeologists was busy digging in the dirt. Out on the highway, about 40 people gathered to protest Mouradian’s plan to turn Legionville, the 1792-93 military encampment of Maj. Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne, into a strip mall. Mouradian, a 64-year-old accountant from Ambridge, owns 21 undeveloped acres of land between Duss Avenue and Route 65 in Harmony Township, all of it zoned for industrial use. He bought the land from GenCorp Inc., in January with the hope of building a shopping center. Local historical societies, however, don’t much like that idea. They want to create a national park. Legionville is on the National Register of Historic Places and is listed as a "significant historic property" by the state Bureau of Historic Preservation. But none of that means Mouradian can’t develop it. As long as he complies with the state bureau’s three-stage archaeological assessment- which he has, at a cost of $80,000- (Which remains unpaid as of March, 1997, Ed.) he can do what he wants with his land. And what he wants is either to build the mall or have someone pay his asking price of $1.2 million for the land, which he bought for $260,000. The protest groups, which include the Legion Ville Historical Society, the Logstown Associates Historical Society and the Anthony Wayne Historical Society, don’t have the money. Without it, Mouradian said their protests amount to nothing more than harassment. "I’ll fight these guys until I’m blue in the face," he said. Fine, say the protesters. "We’re fighting this tooth and nail right to the very end," said Dorothy Shutka of Crescent Township, a member of the Crescent-Shousetown Area Historical Association, which is offering its support to the Legionville cause. "This is something that could bring millions of dollars into this area," Shutka said. "If this man can’t see this, he’s a fool. He’s sitting on a gold mine." Mouradian admittedly is not big on historical perspective. Monsignor Edward Rosak, president of the Logstown Associates, characterizes him as "violently opposed to history." Mouradian can’t really argue. "I’m more concerned with the people who are living," he said. The plaque along Duss Avenue commemorating Legionville should be good enough to mark the site, Mouradian said, especially when the depressed Beaver County economy could use the boost he claims a mall would provide. Although he has yet to find any tenants, he said his mall would cost $10 million to $15 million to build and would generate $35,000 a year in tax revenues for the township. "If you would take a poll of the area- and not just some radical jerks- you’d find that they would rather see a commercial development than a park," he said (A poll was conducted in 1995. Seventy-five percent of the populace favored preservation, ED.). But at least one local resident didn’t agree. Ed Miznik, 77, has lived along Duss Avenue since 1948. He’d rather see a park across the street from his tiny house. Beaver County can’t support the malls it has now, he said. "They’re crazy with these malls," he said, sitting in a chair on his porch. "If you had a historical society here, maybe you’d attract some businesses." Despite the controversy, archaeologists from GAI Consultants Inc., continue their dig for artifacts. Beyond a musketball, they haven’t found many remnants of Legionville, said Diane Beynon Landers, the firm’s archaeology manager. But, she said, "this is still hallowed ground." * After this article was released, GAI found over 600 features related to the camp. Local residents picked up thousand of artifacts after the team left the site. These were turned over to the historical society in 1995.

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