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Judge: Fredericksburg can sell National Slavery Museum land

Posted at 7:56 PM, Dec 10, 2012
and last updated 2012-12-10 19:56:50-05

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WTVR) -- The overgrown property supposed to be used for the National Slavery Museum continues to be at the heart of legal court proceedings after an anonymous donor supposed to foot the bill for the project's back taxes never came forward.

Attorneys for the city of Fredericksburg and attorneys for the architect were in court Monday.

At issue is whether the restrictions placed on the property when it was donated will remain in place when the city auctions it off.

Noticeably absent from the hearing was former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder and his attorney.

An attorney for Pei Partnership, the architectural still trying to collect money owed from the project, hoped to get a judge to remove restrictions on the land.

Those land restrictions were put in place when a donor, who donated the the land for the project, required that the property only be used for a museum.

At the end of Monday's hearing,  those restrictions are still in place.

However, the city still needs to collect nearly $327,000 in back taxes, interest and collection fees continues.

The city has not yet set date for the land auction.