Photographs of existing and simulated streetscapes on Lake Street and Main Street.
	Map, cross-section and orthographic illustration of proposed downtown St. Albans Wal-Mart.
	Aeriel photographs of existing and simulated downtown St. Albans Wal-Mart.

 All Simulations produced by Julie Campoli of Terra Firma Urban Design, Burlington, Vermont

September 13, 2004

H. Lee Scott, Jr., CEO
Wal-Mart
702 Southwest 8^th Street
Bentonville, AR 72716

Dear Mr. Scott:

Congratulations! I was just reading about Wal-Mart International winning the Retailer of the Year Award in the Bentonville newspaper...most impressive!

I was particularly interested in reading John Menzer's comments about how Wal-Mart is learning from your international experiences and developing best practices that can be implemented here in the United States. Mr. Menzer mentioned multiple-floor Wal-Marts as an example. The plan for Wal-Mart's ASDA store in downtown Rugby UK is another best practice that could be adopted here in Vermont downtowns.

Enclosed please find a conceptual plan that we hope you will consider for downtown St. Albans, Vermont. It is remarkably similar to the Rugby proposal...a smaller scale store (60,000 square feet), located on a small redevelopment site in the center of downtown, with parking underneath. We think the Rugby proposal is a great solution, and hope you would consider a similar solution for downtown St. Albans, Vermont.

The proposed project is located right in the center of downtown St. Albans. The 75,000 square-foot store has prominent pedestrian and parking entrances. It is connected to the rest of downtown St. Albans. Roughly 400 parking spaces would be provided in the project as well as new office space. I understand that structured parking is more expensive than surface parking, and we would need to sort that issue out. I can assure you that we would be most eager to work with you to help find the financial support necessary to make the parking feasible. I'm sure the City of St. Albans would also be most supportive.

We appreciate your review and consideration, and would be most happy to have a discussion with you and your people. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Paul Bruhn, Executive Director
Preservation Trust of Vermont