Archinect - News

List of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places for 2024 shows expanded 'collective idea of American history'

2024-05-01T18:31:00-04:00

The newly released list of the country’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2024 has been announced to include LA’s Little Tokyo district and the Walden Pond Reservation area in Massachusetts. The pair was joined by nine other sites in eight states, Morocco, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The full list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, includes:

Cindy Walker House, Mexia, Texas
Eatonville, Florida
Estate Whim Museum, Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Athens, New York
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California
Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden, and nearby landmarks, Massachusetts
New Salem Baptist Church, Tams, West Virginia
Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana
Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses, Sitka, Alaska
Tangier American Legation, Tangier, Morocco
Wilderness Battlefield Area, Orange County, Virginia

UNESCO adds 42 new sites to World Heritage list

2023-09-22T13:06:00-04:00

The outcome of the 45th session of the committee has also been notable, however, for the places not approved for protection. On Friday, members voted against the notion that Venice be added to the heritage list. This was despite the recommendation of the World Heritage Centre (WHC), the convention’s permanent secretariat, which argued the city was at risk due to factors including mass tourism and climate change.

A total of 42 new sites were added at the ongoing special session held in Riyadh this month. Three Ukrainian sites, including the 11th-century Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, were also added last week at the start of the 15-day meeting.

The body’s recommendations to add Venice to the list of World Heritage in Danger sites was also denied at the outset, keeping it away from the dubious position despite criticism that city officials — who’ve just adopted a nominal daily entry fee trial — aren’t doing enough to resolve “long-standing but urgent issues” stemming from tourists’ overcrowding and climate change.

National Trust for Historic Preservation names America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2023

2023-05-09T18:07:00-04:00

One significant theme of the 2023 list is how multicultural communities that grew in parallel with a specific place now face cultural erasure—the gradual disappearance of community landmarks that help tell the story of those who’ve called a place home, along with the loss of treasured local businesses, restaurants, customs, and traditions.

The 2023 list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, includes:

Osterman Gas Station, Peach Springs, Arizona
Little Santo Domingo, Miami, Florida
Pierce Chapel African Cemetery, Midland, Georgia
Century and Consumers Buildings, Chicago, Illinois
West Bank of St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana
Holy Aid and Comfort Spiritual Church, New Orleans, Louisiana
L.V. Hull Home and Studio, Kosciusko, Mississippi
Henry Ossawa Tanner House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Chinatown, Pennsylvania
Charleston’s Historic Neighborhoods, South Carolina
Seattle Chinatown-International District, Washington

UNESCO adds three heritage sites to its 'in-danger' list

2023-01-26T12:15:00-05:00

The historic center of the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and sites in Yemen and Lebanon were added to the World Heritage List Wednesday by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). All three sites were simultaneously added to UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. The statement said that the decision would give Ukraine access to “technical and financial international assistance” to protect and rehabilitate the city center.

Both the Yemeni site and, of course, Odesa were placed under the category in response to the ongoing conflicts afflicting both countries. The latter being of constant "grave concern” to the UN’s cultural body since its inception 11 months ago.

The third site, Rachid Karami International Fair in Tripoli, was designed by Oscar Niemeyer prior to the beginning of his exile from Brazil in the early 1960s. It had been left unfinished as a result of the long Lebanese Civil War that began in 1975. UNESCO’s nomination text cites “[an] alarming state of conservation, the lack of financial resources for its maintenance, and the latent risk of development proposals” as the reason for its inscription.

The 2022 list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places showcases the country's diverse yet troubled cultural tapestry

2022-05-04T12:57:00-04:00

The eleven sites on the 2022 list represent a powerful illustration of expansive American history. The wide range of cultures, histories, and geographies highlighted through the 2022 list help illustrate how telling the full story can help each person see themselves reflected in our country’s multi-layered past.

The 2022 list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, includes:

Brown Chapel AME Church, Selma, Alabama
Camp Naco, Naco, Arizona
Chicano/a/x Community Murals of Colorado
The Deborah Chapel, Hartford, Connecticut
Francisco Q. Sanchez Elementary School, Humåtak, Guam
Minidoka National Historic Site, Jerome, Idaho
Picture Cave, Warren County, Missouri
Brooks-Park Home and Studios, East Hampton, New York
Palmer Memorial Institute, Sedalia, North Carolina
Olivewood Cemetery, Houston, Texas
Jamestown, Virginia

World Monuments Fund announces its 2022 watch list of endangered heritage sites

2022-03-01T16:52:00-05:00

An important designation has been granted to several of the globe’s most important underrepresented cultural landmarks after the World Monuments Fund (WMF) today announced its biannual World Monuments Watch list.

The list represents a group of endangered heritage sites in dire need of preservation as their local stewards attempt to prevent them from falling victim to climate change, crowded tourism, overdevelopment in urban areas, natural disasters, and war.

Heritage Buildings of Beirut, Lebanon: The vibrant coastal city of Beirut, devastated by the blast of August 2020, needs further recovery support to protect and rehabilitate the historic buildings essential to its identity. Pictured: A French-mandate building in the upper part of the Fouad Boutros corridor after the blast. Image courtesy WMF.

The 25 sites comprising this year’s list are made up of a diverse cadre spanning across a time period of 12,000 years and from countries as far-ranging as the United Kingdom and Nepal. Thei...

A new Thompson Center's rezoning proposal pushes plans for a supertall development even closer

2021-06-07T15:07:00-04:00

A path forward in Illinois’ plans for the redevelopment of the Thompson Center has been made a little clearer in Chicago this week, a month after the accidental death of architect Helmut Jahn in a tragic bicycling accident at the age of 83.

A City Council committee approved a proposal from Alderman Brendan Reilly to upzone the troubled building this past Tuesday, doubling the amount of space that can be built on the site and fueling further speculation that the iconic Randolph St. location could be the site of Chicago’s next supertall tower should the measure be approved in a vote that could come as soon as Wednesday.

The change came at the request of Governor J.B. Pritzker, who has been an outspoken proponent of the state’s push to sell the 36-year-old signature building to private developers in an effort to get off the hook for the nearly $17 million in annual costs it takes to maintain the aging property as it currently stands.

Preservationists now face an all-out fight to save J...

NYC recognizes collection of LGBT historic sites

2019-06-24T12:48:00-04:00

Six LGBT historic sites have received official designation as local landmarks from the New York City Landmarks Commission, The Villager reports.

The sites represent an ongoing effort to expand historic preservationprotections to sites that are significant to the civil rights struggles of the LGBT community.

The sites include:

The Caffe Cino, 31 Cornelia St., a local playhouse where gay men met to share their work free from persecution at a time when depicting homosexuality in theatrical productions was outlawed. The space played a role in developing "Off-Off-Broadway" experimental, and gay theater movements, according to the site's landmark description.
The Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, 99 Wooster St., a space considered to be New York City’s “first gay community center.” The space was used by a variety of activist groups, including: the Lesbian Feminist Liberation, Gay Youth, the Gay Men’s Health Project, and the Catholic group Dignity.
The Women’s Liberation Center, 243 W. 20...

List of America's Most Endangered Historic Places for 2018 includes Route 66, civil rights monuments, and hurricane-damaged heritage

2018-06-26T20:26:00-04:00

America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is an annual list that spotlights important examples of our nation’s architectural and cultural heritage that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage. [...] The National Trust’s 31st annual list includes a diverse mix of historic places across America facing a range of challenges and threats, from deferred maintenance to inappropriate development proposals to devastation wrought by natural disasters.

The 2018 List of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, comprises:

Annapolis’ City Dock Area, Annapolis, Maryland
Ashley River Historic District, Charleston, South Carolina
Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital, Omaha Indian Reservation, Nebraska
Hurricane-Damaged Historic Resources, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Isaiah T. Montgomery House, Mound Bayou, Mississippi
Larimer Square, Denver, Colorado
Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Mount Vernon and Piscataway National Park, Mount Vernon, Virginia, and Accokeek, Maryland
Route 66, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, and California
Ship on the Desert, Salt Flat, Texas
Walkout Schools of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Watch Status Site: Four Towns of Vermont's Upper Valley
Royalton, Sharon, Trafford, and Tunbridge, Vermont

New list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places keeps fragile memories alive

2015-06-25T19:15:00-04:00

This year’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is our most diverse list ever. Several of the places on the 2015 list focus on chapters in our history that have sometimes been overlooked, reinforcing the message that preserving the full American experience means everyone has a seat at the table and that all voices are heard.

The 2015 List of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, comprises:

A.G. Gaston Motel, Alabama
Carrollton Courthouse, Louisiana
Chautauqua Amphitheater, New York
East Point Historic Civic Block, Georgia
Fort Worth Stockyards, Texas
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Little Havana, Florida
Oak Flat, Arizona
Old U.S. Mint, California
South Street Seaport, New York
The Factory, California