See them before you miss them. Or better: take action. For 26 years, the Trust for Historic Preservation has compiled a list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places as an effort to raise awareness about the threats facing the nation’s greatest treasures of architectural, cultural and natural significance.
This year’s list has a little bit for everyone. From natural landmarks like the Palisades, to grandeur structures like Cincinnati’s Music Hall or simple yet culturally revolutionary architecture like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Spring House, a variety of sites across the United States are threatened by weather damage, natural disaster or pressure for development.
On the brighter side, the National Trust says that thanks to these lists that come out annually, hearts have been touched and communities have been mobilized. Hence, out of the 250 sites listed as endangered, only a handful have been lost.
Here’s a closer look on eight of the sites that made this year’s list in no particular order:
1. Shockoe Bottom, Richmond, Virginia
This site may not look like much, but that’s because the antebellum artifacts are now below the surface. Shockoe Bottom was an important center for the African slave trade between 1830 and 1865, where 350,000 slaves were traded. Among these slaves were Solomon Northup, whose life was chronicled in the Oscars Best Picture winning “12 Years as Slave.” The site is now threatened by plans to build a minor league baseball stadium on it.
The National Trust says: “Shockoe Bottom should be protected as a site of conscience, a place that offers the public a chance to experience, and learn from, this dark chapter in American history. A path forward for Shockoe Bottom should include meaningful public involvement and expert archeological analysis so that the historical remnants of the slave trade now buried there can be seen and properly interpreted.”
2. The Palisades, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Preserving the Palisades is more than preserving a pretty landscape; these cliffs on the Hudson River represent two historically significant stories to the United States. For centuries, the Sanhikan, Hackensack, Raritan and Tappan nations used the cliffs as shelter to protect their people from adverse weather. In the 19th century, the Palisades became the focus of some of the country’s earliest conservation and protection efforts.
A proposal to build an eight story, 143 foot office next to the Palisades would change the scenic view of the Palisades. According to the National Trust, “if construction goes forward, it would represent the first breach of the viewshed in the 100-year history of protecting the Palisades north of the George Washington Bridge.”
3. Battle Mountain Sanitarium, Hot Springs, South Dakota
For over a century Battle Mountain Sanitarium has provided medical care to veterans in the region. It is one of a few properties managed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) designated as a National Historic Landmark. The facilities are threatened to an uncertain fate as the VA plans to relocate to Rapid City, 60 miles away.
4. Historic Wintersburg, Huntington Beach, California
Underneath the mythical appeal of the Wild West as preserved by Hollywood Western films is a less-known story of California’s diverse settlement since the 19th century. Wintersburg documents three generations of the Japanese-American experience in the United States, and contains six extant pioneer structures and open farmland.
Although the current owners of the property agreed to provide preservationists until mid 2015 to find solutions to save the historic property, demolition of the site remains a possibility.
5. Palladium Building, St. Louis, Missouri
At first glance, this long-neglected and dilapidated building does not look like much. Reality is the Palladium was the largest club of its kind in St. Louis in the 1940s, and pioneers in African American jazz music such as Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald have graced its stage.
6. Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio
Built in 1878, the red brick High Victorian Gothic structure features a large auditorium, ornate foyer, offices, carpentry shop, rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms and a ballroom. But despite its grandeur, Music Hall is suffering from deterioration and water damage and is in need of extensive repairs.
7. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Spring House, Tallahassee, Florida
According to the National Trust, the novel hemicycle form “represents a late, and little known, stage in Wright’s long, prolific career.” Constructed in 1954, Spring House is the only built private residence designed by Wright in the state of Florida.
Exposure to hurricanes and winds storms has led to visible damage throughout the interior of the house. Despite the unique design and its association with America’s most famous architect, funds still need to be raised to purchase and restore the house.
8. Union Terminal, Cincinnati, Ohio
The iconic building is one of the country’s last remaining grand-scale Art Deco railroad terminals The massive 180 foot wide and 106 foot tall rotunda is the second largest half dome in the world, and features glass mosaic murals by Winold Reiss depicting the history of Cincinnati and the United States.
The grandeur scale of the structure means restoration costs are hefty, and the station is threatened by deterioration.
To learn more about each site and see the extensive list of endangered landmarks, visit the National Trust’s official page.
Related Stories
| Jan 23, 2014
SMPS Announces Call for Entries for 37th Annual Marketing Communications Awards Program
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) is accepting entries for its 37th Annual Marketing Communications Awards (MCA) competition. The MCA program is the longest-standing, most prestigious awards program recognizing excellence in marketing communications by professional services firms in the design and building industry. The entry deadline is March 3, 2014. SMPS members and nonmembers are eligible to enter.
| Jan 23, 2014
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed Federation of Korean Industries tower opens in Seoul [slideshow]
The 50-story tower features a unique, angled building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) exterior designed to maximize the amount of energy collected.
| Jan 23, 2014
Think you can recognize a metal building from the outside?
What looks like brick, stucco or wood on the outside could actually be a metal building. Metal is no longer easily detectable. It’s gotten sneakier visually. And a great example of that is the Madison Square retail center in Norman, Okla.
| Jan 23, 2014
3 fatal flaws your architecture firm has right now
After visiting over 200 architecture firms, I was aghast that so many of them were committing these costly sins of mismanagement and miscommunication, without even realizing it. If I can stop even one more firm from shooting its own foot, then this is worth it.
| Jan 22, 2014
SOM-designed University Center uses 'sky quads,' stacked staircases to promote chance encounters
The New School's vertical campus in Manhattan houses multiple functions, including labs, design studios, a library, and student residences, in a 16-story building.
| Jan 22, 2014
Architecture Billings Index sees first back-to-back decline since mid-2012
The AIA's Architecture Billings Index dipped for the second consecutive month in December—the first consecutive months of contraction since May and June of 2012.
| Jan 21, 2014
Comcast to build second Philadelphia skyscraper, with Norman Foster-designed tower [slideshow]
The British architect last week unveiled his scheme for the $1.2 billion, 59-story Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, planned adjacent to the Comcast Center.
| Jan 21, 2014
2013: The year of the super-tall skyscraper
Last year was the second-busiest ever in terms of 200-meter-plus building completions, with 73 towers, according to a report by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jan 20, 2014
BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland Conference 'call for 2014 educational proposals' is now open
The conference and exposition will take place September 29-October 1, 2014, at North America’s largest LEED Gold-certified hotel, the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Deadline for proposals is February 28, 2014.
| Jan 17, 2014
Crystal Bridges Museum will move Frank Lloyd Wright house from New Jersey to Arkansas
Numerous architectural experts have concluded that moving the Bachman Wilson House offers its best hope for long-term survival.