Plans for giant presidential heads attraction in James City County put on hold

JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — A proposal to transform 42 giant presidential heads into a major attraction in James City County, Virginia, is on hold after the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to take no action on the project.

The plan, developed by Mark Jakobowski and landowner Howard Hankins, would place the massive presidential busts but also includes a museum, 700 housing units — half designated for a retirement community — a hotel, local grocer and retail space.

I attended Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, where board members and neighbors raised concerns about traffic and the strain the development could place on county services. The discussion lasted nearly two hours before the vote to defer.

Jakobowski, the project's director of development, had previously identified the planning and zoning process as the project's central obstacle when I interviewed him a year ago.

"The biggest challenge is for us to do what we need to do to get through the planning and zoning process at James City County," Jakobowski said.

Jakobowski said the board's reaction was not entirely unexpected.

"We had gotten word there was a bit of curiosity and contention from the board," Jakobowski said.

At least one neighbor welcomed the delay.

"I'm happy with the board's decision to defer the project. I think it was a good move for the applicant to ask for more time to get more feedback from the community," Sarah Ray, who lives near the proposed site, said.

Board Chair John McGlennon, who voted against the deferral, expressed deeper reservations about the project's viability.

"While I think this program has a lot of good ideas in it, they really haven't been matched to the math. It wasn't clear this was a sustainable project to me," McGlennon said.

The 42 heads of state — which do not yet include busts of former Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden or Donald Trump — have had a turbulent history. They were originally part of President's Park, a tourist attraction in Williamsburg that opened in March 2004 but closed just six years later. The heads were then trucked to Hankins' commercial construction recycling business, where they have remained.

Hankins, who attended the board meeting, said he is not discouraged by the delay.

"And I believe when it's right, it will happen — so I can't worry about it," Hankins said.

The board will take up the proposal again in October.

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