RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ A plan to build a wheelchair ramp outside the Virginia Executive Mansion is turning into a tussle between Gov. Terry McAuliffe and former first lady Roxane Gilmore. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Gilmore, the wife of former governor and current Republican presidential candidate Jim Gilmore, has circulated a letter among historic preservationists in which she characterizes the planned ramp as unnecessarily intrusive on the nation’s oldest continuously occupied governor’s residence. The governor and first lady Dorothy McAuliffe announced the ramp project last month, calling it an improvement on the Richmond mansion’s existing method of wheelchair access: an elevator from the basement. The governor’s office has said the proposed ramp fits the mansion’s aesthetic and will be built in accordance with federal standards for historic properties.
