Project Preservation: 8 Sites in D.C.

While maintaining a watchful eye on historic buildings in Washington, the D.C. Preservation League has created a list of "Most Endangered Places" to track particularly vulnerable real estate. Some of the following locations from previous lists have been saved, but others remain endangered.

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D.C. War Memorial

Location: West Potomac Park

Status: Endangered

Despite its prime location near the Mall south of the Reflecting Pool, the D.C. War Memorial (pictured on the cover) is mostly overlooked by tourists and largely unknown even to Washingtonians. Built in 1931, the elegant domed colonnade is the capital's only World War I memorial, always understood to honor D.C. residents and all who fought in the Great War. Because of neglect, the marble is cracked and shows bacterial growth. The D.C. Preservation League has placed the memorial on its list of endangered places several times and has lobbied the National Park Service to restore it and provide proper lighting, signs and trash cans.

Franklin School

Location: 13th and K streets NW

Status: Saved, but still faces problems

Designed by architect Adolph Cluss, the Franklin School won awards from around the world after its completion in 1869. The Romanesque revival school was attended by the children of the city's elite and was the site of Alexander Graham Bell's successful "photophone" experiment, which transmitted sound by mirrors and sunlight. By the 1970s, however, the school was threatened with demolition after decades of neglect. The building was saved by activists including Don't Tear It Down, later renamed the D.C. Preservation League. The school's exterior has been restored, but the intricate interior plasterwork, woodwork and frescoes on the third floor are deteriorating because of a lack of heating and ventilation. The Franklin School now serves as a homeless shelter.

Gralyn Hotel and Woodbine Apartments

Location: 1745-1755 N St. NW

Status: Endangered

Few downtown streets have eluded the District's tear-downs and buildups as successfully as the stretch of N between 17th and 18th in Northwest. Former residents such as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt surely would recognize their old block and its stately turn-of-the-century rowhouses. But the Dupont Circle Conservancy and the preservation league say that the developer who owns a long-vacant strip is letting it deteriorate to circumvent historic-building protections.

"They're not endangered," says the owner, Morton Bender. "I maintain them." Bender says there are no water leaks, broken windows or other causes of deterioration and adds that development of the buildings as a boutique hotel has been blocked by what he calls unreasonable preservation protections. Although he wants to expand the buildings and add to their height, he says the changes wouldn't be visible from the street or affect the facades. The city's rejection of Bender's plan is being appealed.