Preservation League Announces Call for Nominations for Seven to Save Program

ALBANY—Now through Friday, November 1, the Preservation League of New York State is accepting nominations for its Seven to Save program. The Preservation League has been helping New York State communities retain, rehabilitate and reuse threatened sites through its Seven to Save Endangered Sites Program since 1999. According to officials, building on partnerships with groups and individuals, Seven to Save listing has been a key catalyst to the successful revival of dozens of buildings, downtowns, neighborhoods, and landscapes endangered by threats such as lack of regulatory protections, neglect, imminent demolition, and incompatible development.

This call for nominations will result in the listing of seven at-risk sites. Sites selected for the Seven to Save program will receive enhanced attention from the Preservation League’s experienced advocacy and technical assistance staff from January 2025 through December 2026. The Preservation League remains active with Seven to Save sites beyond their initial listing as needed.

Nominations should reflect the Empire State’s diverse people and places. As New Yorkers prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026, nominations are encouraged for sites that reflect the state’s full history; its social, cultural, and economic diversity; and its extraordinary heritage of architecture and design, including all property and building types, from vernacular to high style.

Program goals, benefits, nomination criteria, and a link to submit a nomination can found at //preservenys.org/seven-to-save.

“Over the last 25 years, the League’s Seven to Save program has helped save dozens of New York State’s irreplaceable historic sites,” said Caitlin Meives, director of preservation at the Preservation League of NYS. “Collaboration with local advocates has always been the backbone of the program—as we open the 2025-2026 nominations, we look to our grassroots supporters, preservation colleagues and community groups across the state to share the stories of their beloved at-risk places.”

The 2025-2026 listing will follow the Preservation League’s 25th Anniversary Seven to Save Retrospective that has taken place throughout 2024. The last biennial listing covered 2022-2023.

Priorities for inclusion on the 2025-2026 Seven to Save list are:

• Historic places important to communities who are historically underrepresented within preservation, including, but not limited to, places associated with women, immigrants, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, and LGBTQ+ communities.
• Historic places directly threatened by the impacts of climate change.
• Historic places that have a direct connection to the nation’s Semiquincentennial (250th anniversary) in 2026, including places that help tell the story of social change and the fight for civil rights, since the nation’s founding.

The nomination deadline is Friday, November 1, 2024, 11:59 p.m. Questions can be directed to Meives via e-mail at cmeives@preservenys.org.