Theme Park Sparks ‘Battle of Waterloo’

A proposed theme park near the site of Napoleon’s final clash has sparked a new Battle of Waterloo on the 175th anniversary of the historic event.

“Unthinkable. For us this project is unacceptable,” said a group called the Belgian Society for Napoleonic Studies, which is calling out the cavalry in a campaign to quash it.

“A new battle is under way,” the group said in an editorial rallying cry in its most recent newsletter.

The Belgian firm that proposed the project said opposition to its blueprints stems less from historical aesthetics than from ancient nationalistic rivalries.

“That group (the Napoleonic scholars) has a French outlook, and the French don’t want anything to be done with Waterloo because Waterloo is a symbol for them of something terrible, something they have lost,” said Patrick Rittweger of the Devimo company.

“You have 10 times more English-speaking people visiting Waterloo than French-speaking people,” he said. “In fact, you have more Japanese visitors than French.”

Members of another group, the very British-leaning Waterloo Committee, favor new facilities for visitors so long as the battlefield itself is not disturbed.

“Something has to be done to welcome the visitors,” said a vice president of the committee, whose honorary chairman is the current Duke of Wellington, a descendant of the legendary “Iron Duke” who defeated Napoleon on June 18, 1815, in the battle that made the name “Waterloo” forever synonymous with disaster.

It was recently announced that the British Library had bought the Iron Duke’s tear-stained victory dispatch from the present-day duke. It was written to the British war minister, Lord Bathurst, a day after the battle.

Waterloo Committee member Anthony Newell said the area near the famous Lion’s Mound part of the battlefield “is a shambles at the moment. It’s rather sad, really.”

The historic site draws several hundred thousand visitors a year. The Lion’s Mound area has a wax museum, a large painting of the battle and a couple of souvenir shops, hardly enough for an afternoon of family fun.

The Devimo company’s proposal calls for an interpretive theme park called “The Square of Europe,” a large parking lot, and perhaps a hotel and restaurant. Plans must be approved by local officials before construction can begin.

“Investing millions, if not billions, of francs to increase the number of tourists on the battlefield makes us jump up in revolt,” said the Napoleonic studies group.

The London-born Newell said the Napoleonists’ opposition may stem from long memories: “Even though it was so many years ago, Napoleon did lose, you know. He got his, and I’m sure there’s some lingering resentment, perhaps misplaced.”

Officials expect large crowds this year for the battle’s 175th anniversary festivities, which include ceremonies at the 131-foot tall Lion’s Mound and a colorful reenactment of the bloody encounter that dashed Napoleon’s renewed hopes of glory after returning from exile on Elba.

The developer said a theme park will only enhance the historical value of a trip to Waterloo.

“We’re trying to do something with a high standard, like Gettysburg. We’re not trying to create a Disneyland,” he said.

The town of Waterloo, situated about 9 miles south of Brussels, has curiously emerged as the Belgian capital’s “American ghetto,” a wealthy suburb attracting the families of U.S. diplomats, military officers and lobbyists attracted to the bustling bureaucracies of NATO headquarters and the offices of the European Community.

Bureaucracy is big business in Belgium, whether at the international or local level.

The Waterloo battlefield site actually is situated on the territory of four different townships, each with its own local government. Regional, provincial and federal officials also have a say in the proposed theme park development, so there is bound to be plenty of red tape to keep the new Battle of Waterloo raging for a while.