Army vetoes Va. theme park

The Army shot down a developer’s proposal Tuesday to build a military theme park on a Virginia Army base that would feature rides that allow visitors to “command the latest M-1 tank” and “feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall.”

A Florida developer wanted to erect the theme park at Ft. Belvoir, a few miles from the nation’s capital, in conjunction with plans for a new National Museum of the United States Army, scheduled to be built at the base by 2011.

“That proposal ... was dead on arrival, and will be dead on arrival if resubmitted,” said Keith Eastin, the Army’s assistant secretary for installations and environment.

Eastin said the Army is willing to consider some type of “visitor destination concept” to go with the museum, but it would have to be done “in a tasteful and appropriate manner.”