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Company to push zipline application with HPO anew
Saipan Adventure Tours will again push for their Marpi zipline project after the Historic Preservation Review board rejected their project out of concern for the “integrity” of the historical area.
The company aims to construct a launch tower west of Suicide Cliff that will serve three runs of four lines, each zooming down to Banzai Cliff, Wing Beach, and Kan Pacific.
Owner John Stewart could not be reached for comments yesterday. Project designer and consultant Richard Colt declined to comment on Tuesday, but a company attorney confirmed yesterday that they “will be taking further action with HPO on their application for the project.” He could not comment further.
According to HPO’s findings on the project, copies of which were obtained by Saipan Tribune, the “question of integrity” in the area was the “central question” in their review of the zipline project.
The review board chose to accept these findings, which appear to stress the sentimental value of the site, in a 4 to 2 vote on Tuesday.
Citing the National Register in their “seven aspects of integrity,” HPO listed “location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association” as aspects they must maintain.
HPO said the question of integrity is answered by “whether or not the property retains the identity for which it was originally deemed significant.”
If the property loses this identity, they are subject to lose their status as a National Historical Landmark or National Historic place, HPO found.
“When Marpi was recommended for the National Historic Register, emphasis was placed on its tragic history,” HPO said. “It is a sacred place for U.S. and Japanese service members whose families visit it to commemorate the war dead. It is also a sacred place for Chamorro people who collect medicinal plants within its boundaries,” the findings state.
Citing the National Register, HPO also said Suicide Cliff is “an important place of pilgrimage and peace.”
HPO said the zipline project would “change the aesthetic character of the [NHL] for visitors” by injecting auditory and visual stimulus that “will alter the visitor’s perception of the significance of the landmark” while they visit.
