The National Trust for Historic Preservation has included two New York sites on its 2025 list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The Wellington Hotel in Pine Hill, built in 1882, faces a $7 million repair bill beyond the capability of its small community. A grassroots group aims to restore it as a community hub. The Turtle Center in Niagara Falls, once a vibrant Indigenous arts venue, has been closed since 1996 and is at risk of demolition. These cases emphasize preservation as essential for community heritage, identity, and economic development rather than mere nostalgia.
Built in 1882, the Wellington is a hulking, wood-frame reminder of the golden age of mountain tourism—when resorts were grand, porches were wide, and urbanites fled the heat for fresh air and blueberry pie. But today, it's sagging under the weight of time, with a failing foundation and a repair bill estimated at $7 million.
Meanwhile, just steps from the roar of Niagara Falls, The Turtle—a striking, turtle-shaped cultural center built in 1981 by Arapaho architect Dennis Sun Rhodes—sits eerily silent. Once the largest Indigenous arts venue in the Eastern U.S., it's been closed since 1996 and is now unprotected, painted over and eyed for demolition.
Both projects underscore this year's theme: preservation isn't just about saving old buildings, but rather it's about making space for community, identity and economic resilience. In other words, it's not about nostalgia. It's about what happens next.
Collection
[
|
...
]