A seat in the General Assembly is at stake, and so is a place at the table in deciding Fort Monroe’s future.

The BRAC commission voted for the fort to close by 2011, but the question is, “What then?”

Republican Tricia Stall and Democrat John Miller are both vying for the first senate district seat, and also to be a voice in the fort’s final outcome.

Everyone at all levels of government seems to agree that the historic area of Fort Monroe, which traces its earliest days back to the 17th century and Captain John Smith, should remain just that; historic.

The debate centers on the rest of the post's 570 acres of beautiful Mill Creek and Chesapeake Bay waterfront property.

Whoever wins the 1st senate district race Tuesday earns a place on the Federal Area Development Authority that will decide the fort's future.

Stall says the acreage, all of it, should remain pristine.

“Absolutely, the developers are salivating at the opportunity to go in there and put condos and make it something totally different than it is now,” said Stall.

Miller pledges to preserve the historic, moated portion of the fort, the public beaches and the wetlands, but he stops short of agreeing to a complete moratorium on all development.

“There's a reuse study that's under way that hasn't been completed yet, so the questions before us is what is the best uses for Fort Monroe, and I think we ought to wait to see what that study says,” he said.

On the Fort Monroe issue, the candidates disagree if they even disagree. Miller says he doesn’t see a difference between his and Stall’s stances on the matter, while Stall says, “There's about a million dollars worth of difference actually when the developers get in these and do what they want to do to it."

The authority is made up of five governor's cabinet members, four state legislators, seven citizens appointed by Hampton City Council and two citizens with historic preservation and tourism experience.