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Joe Frazier's gym, post offices on 'endangered historic places' list
[Updated at 5:42 p.m. ET] A Philadelphia gym where boxing great Joe Frazier trained and historic post offices nationwide are among the United States’ most endangered historic places, according to an annual list that a preservation group released Wednesday.
The 25th annual "America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places," released by the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, lists what the group says are examples of important buildings, districts or landscapes that are at risk of destruction or irreparable damage.
The list includes the converted three-story brick Philadelphia warehouse where Frazier, a two-time heavyweight champion who handed Muhammad Ali his first professional loss in 1971's "Fight of the Century," trained throughout his career, according to the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
Frazier kept the gym open after his 1976 retirement, but it closed in 2008, three years before his death at age 67, according to the alliance.
The building, now home to a furniture store and two vacant floors, is for sale. In putting the building on its list, the NTHP says it hopes to identify a preservation-minded buyer and raise $10,000 to cover the costs of nominating it to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.
"Joe Frazier was a sports legend, and he deserves a place that celebrates his legacy and his contributions to the sport of boxing,” Stephanie Meeks, NTHP president, said in a news release. "Without question, Joe Frazier's Gym is an important historic and cultural site, and bringing both protection and recognition to this site by placing it on the local and national registers would be a fitting tribute to one of our greatest athletes of all time."
Also on the list are what the group calls historic post office buildings that are closed or that may close in the near future. The group says that developers who would like to purchase and rehabilitate the buildings sometimes abandon their pursuit because they don't get timely or clear answers from the U.S. Postal Service regarding their disposition.
"There needs to be a clear and consistent process with these buildings no matter how they are disposed of, and that has not been provided," Chris Morris, a NTHP senior field officer, said by phone Wednesday.
In an e-mail to CNN, Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan wrote that the service wants "to sell the property we have on the market," and that it is working with real-estate service provider CBRE to do this.
"And we follow all of the established laws and provisions regarding historical properties," Brennan wrote.
About 500 post offices have closed in the last two years, according to CNNMoney. The Postal Service, which reported a $5.1 billion loss last year citing a down economy, declining mail volume and a congressional mandate to prefund retirement health care benefits, recently backed off a plan to close thousands more post offices, deciding instead to cut hours at 13,000 rural sites, CNNMoney reported.
The NTHP's lists have highlighted 242 places over the last 25 years, with sites rarely appearing on the list more than one year.
The lists have "been a powerful tool for raising awareness and rallying resources to save endangered sites from every region of the country," the group said in the release.
"At times, that attention has garnered public support to quickly rescue a treasured landmark; while in other instances, it has been the impetus of a long battle to save an important piece of our history," the group said.
The 2012 “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” list:
Gym where Joe Frazier trained, Philadelphia
Historic U.S. Post Office buildings
Bridges of Yosemite Valley, California
Ellis Island Hospital Complex, New York Harbor, New York and New Jersey
Last known surviving boyhood home of Malcom X, Boston
Princeton Battlefield, Princeton, New Jersey
Sweet Auburn Historic District, Atlanta
Terminal Island, Port of Los Angeles
Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch, Billings County, North Dakota
Do you know of a building, district, municipality or landscape that you think should be on this list? Please leave a comment below.
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Put Charleston, Sc on the list; our historic district is getting buried under hotels, cruise ships, parking garages, and way too many developer interests.
They put it on their "watch list" in 2011.
If there's something 'historic' that happened in a certain location, then by all means protect it. If something's just old and was visited by someone who was involved in something truly historic, then it's just old.
Zoar, Ohio was founded by "Geremans," if the photo caption is to be believed.
Put a nice little story about these places in a book and tear em down... Think they would last another 50 years without maintenance? These are by no means architectural masterpieces.
BIG LOL!!!
If something is being condered by developers, you can say hello to development and goodbye to history. A greased politician is an easy politician. Tearing down bridges in Yosemite? That's just wrong.
Helen Keller's summer home in Wrentham, Massachusetts should definitely be on this list. Currently, it is a house divided into apartments.
Notice how a lot of those sites are nice pieces of land greedy developers want to destroy
Like the greedy developers that built the house you are living in.
Or the greedy developers that built the whole foods market you shop in.
Or the greedy developers that built the REI store you get your camping equipment in.
Or the greedy developers that built your PAC office.
Developers! My G0D, can't we just demolish some old dilapidated inner city blocks for new development. Leave open space alone!
The childhood home of Malcom X... Really?
Pass.
Yeah, that part of Atlanta is a pile of crap.
The Sweet Auburn district should be saved. Everyone is saying this and that and passing it by. Sweet Auburn was the most prestigious black communities in the US. If it were not for the Tulsa Race Riot we would still have Black Wall Street to show off these powerful black communities. Joe Fraiser's gym can fall, either you love or hat Malcom X, Teddy's Ranch is beautiful but eh, but take care of "Sweet Auburn"
Just because somoene was born in a certain location doesn't mean that location is historic.
I live on an Island with tons of WW2 history that the natives are allowing to rot. Tens of millions could be made in the tourist trade if they would fix and promote the sites, loser race.
I think if the buildings are safeable safe them if not do a notebook or something with pictures and information and tear down