The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance announced its "Seven to Save" properties Tuesday. The annual register highlights historic places in the state that are in danger of disappearing due to neglect, demolition and other factors.
"This year we're touting it as our most diverse list and certainly that involves its age,” says Andrew Cushing, Field Service Representative with the Alliance. “We have buildings from the 1790s all the way up to the 1940s."
This year, the Alliance’s focus isn't only on buildings. They're also including landscapes like the old Ruggles mica mine in Grafton, which the state is weighing the idea of turning into a state park.
The Laconia State School campus also made the list. The former home for people with developmental disabilities is set for possible multi-use re-development. The campus was plagued by poor conditions in its time.
"It's certainly not the first site that's had this kind of painful history that's been successfully rehabilitated,” says Cushing. “So just making sure that those buildings are at the forefront of the conversation."
So far the alliance says it's had about a 50 percent success rate when it comes to preserving the historic properties included on the “Seven to Save” list.
