New plan raised to save Stonehenge

LONDON -- A heritage group announced an $88 million plan Wednesday to rescue Stonehenge from the 20th-century clutter that has sprung up around the ancient circular stone monument.

Branded a "national disgrace" by some lawmakers as it now stands, Stonehenge is flanked by highways, and visitors trying to imagine its original splendor do so with the steady hum of traffic in the background.

The planned changes to the site in Wiltshire, southern England, would reclaim land around the stone circle by closing one highway and building an underground tunnel for a second road. A new, less obtrusive, visitor center would replace the current building near the monument.

"These funds are the key to reuniting archaeological landscape rich with ceremonial monuments spanning over 10,000 years," said Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage.

, the partially government-funded body responsible for preserving the country's historic environment.

"Although about 830,000 people a year from around the world pay to visit Stonehenge, they spend on average just over half-an-hour at the stone circle. Visitors to Stonehenge deserve better than this, and at long last they will be able to engage with the wonder of the Stonehenge landscape as never before."

The last in a sequence of circular monuments built between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C., Stonehenge is one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions and a spiritual home for thousands of self-styled druids, New Age followers and mystics who gather there for the solstice, the northern hemisphere's longest day and the first day of summer.

Exactly how and why it was built remains a mystery.

Some experts believe it is aligned with the sun simply because its builders came from a sun-worshipping culture, while others believe the site was part of a huge astronomical calendar.

Improvement plans have been discussed ever since a committee of lawmakers called the site -- complete with unsightly fencing, an intrusive visitor center and portable toilets in the visitor car park -- a national disgrace a decade ago.

Under the new structure, visitors will still not be able to walk right up and touch the stones -- that was stopped in 1978 -- but they will have access to far more of the 1,700 acre National Trust-owned site.

English Heritage plans to build the new information center outside the archaeologically sensitive site, from where visitors will be able to walk, hire bicycles or take "environmentally friendly" shuttle buses to the viewing area for the circle of stones. There also will be improved access for the disabled.

Designed by award-winning Australian architects at Denton Corker Marshall, the visitor center would be buried into the landscape, making it appear, from above, simply as lines on the ground. It is expected to be completed by 2006.

"I think people will be amazed when all the blots on the landscape have been removed and you can see Stonehenge in all its glory and natural setting. People from Australia often tell me they are disappointed when they visit because the stones at the moment seem so small," said architect Barry Marshall.

The plans to alter the roads around the monument will be put to a public inquiry toward the end of 2003. If approved, construction will start in 2005 and be completed by 2008.

The government has pledged $15 million for the project, with the remainder of the funds to be provided by English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the proceeds from a public appeal scheduled for later this year.

The Heritage Lottery Fund channels money raised by the national lottery to preserve Britain's heritage, including stately homes, castles and parks.