After philanthropist David M. Rubenstein agreed to fund half the cost of fixing the earthquake damaged Washington Monument, he asked National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis: "What else you got?"
"Well, I have a long list," Jarvis said he replied. At the top was the repair of the tattered 200-year-old Arlington House and Robert E. Lee Memorial in Arlington Cemetery. It's condition, Jarvis thought, was embarrassing.
Last winter, on a cold, rainy day, Jarvis gave Rubenstein a tour of the house where the famous Confederate general had lived before the Civil War. Rubenstein asked for a repair proposal.
"We proposed $12.3 million," Jarvis said Thursday. He said Rubenstein replied: "Be glad to do that."
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Its hard to find rich folks nowadays that would voluntarily donate that much to historical preservation especially if he was associated with the confederacy
ReplyDeleteHe has given a lot to other ones.
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