The Utah hangar that housed the Enola Gay B-29 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, is among 11 historic sites the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed today as the most endangered by neglect or development.
The Enola Gay hangar sits on the remote Wendover airfield near the Utah-Nevada border. The trust said the hangar is in a critical state of disrepair, along with other sites connected to the World War II-era Manhattan Project effort to develop nuclear weapons.
Last year, the airfield received a $450,000 grant through the Save America's Treasures program to re-roof the hangar and the north and south operations offices and shops, and provide siding and windows for the buildings.
Other sites on the endangered list are:
The Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, the "West Coast White House" that hosted President-elect Ronald Reagan's victory celebration and a welcome home gala for the Apollo 11 astronauts; threatened by a plan to build two skyscrapers.
Mount Taylor, near Grants, N.M., which as many as 30 Indian tribes consider sacred; threatened by exploration for uranium mining.
Human Services Center, Yankton, S.D., a campus founded in 1879 as the South Dakota Hospital for the Insane; threatened by a state demolition plan.
Lanai City, Hawaii, the plantation town built by pineapple baron James Dole; threatened by commercial development.
Ames Shovel Shops, Easton, Mass., a 19th-century industrial village; threatened by plans for a mixed-use development.
Cast-Iron Architecture of Galveston, Texas, late 19th-century buildings; threatened by hurricane damage in 2008.
Dorchester Academy, Midway, Ga., a school founded in 1868 to teach freed slaves; threatened by deterioration.
Memorial Bridge, Portsmouth, N.H., to Kittery, Maine, the first major lift bridge in the eastern U.S.; threatened by possible state removal.
Miami Marine Stadium, Virginia Key, Fla., built entirely of poured concrete; threatened by hurricane damage and neglect.
Unity Temple, Oak Park, Ill., a century-old Unitarian temple designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; threatened by years of water infiltration.
Miami Marine Stadium and the Century Plaza are examples of 1960s modernist architecture that preservationists say is increasingly under threat of redevelopment.
It's hard for a generation that has grown up with such architecture to recognize it as historically significant, said Richard Moe, director of the trust.
"The problem is we're losing most of the best examples before they become historic," Moe said.
The preservation group hopes people will seek to have all the sites protected as historic monuments, Moe said.
Only six of the 211 sites added to the list since 1988 have been lost, he said.
"They're all part of our national heritage," Moe said. "If we lose any of them, they're gone forever."