Nominations are now open for the 2009 Seven to Save list and are due September 18. The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance annual program recognizes the most endangered historic properties in the state and helps focus attention and resources to save these important parts of our community heritage.

We encourage people to think about what is in danger of being lost in their communities said Jennifer Goodman Executive Director of the Alliance. The Seven to Save list can provide a powerful boost to community efforts to preserve and protect historic assets.

Historic resources are eligible for the program if they are over 50 years old and are significant representations of the state's heritage. Selection for Seven to Save is also based on the severity of the current threat to the property and the extent to which the listing will make a difference in preserving or protecting it.

Being on the list provides real leverage says Maggie Stier, the Alliance's field service representative. and while there's no cash award, it helps local advocates build their case with grant makers, property owners, town officials or local voters.

Dennis McClary, chair of the Langdon Heritage Commission, agrees that Seven to Save can effectively inform public opinion. Being listed on the Seven to Save was a major factor in influencing our citizens at March Town Meeting to set aside $28,000 in a capital reserve trust for the Meeting House foundation said McClary.

Seven to Save is modeled after the Eleven Most Endangered List, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. After New Hampshire's historic metal truss bridges were named to the statewide Seven to Save list last fall, the grand-daddy of them all, Portsmouth's Memorial Bridge, competed successfully to make the national Eleven-Most list this past April. It joins the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel in New Castle and the Daniel Webster Farm in Franklin as previous national endangered list selections. While adequate funding to restore the bridge is not yet certain, both the other projects were successfully rehabilitated and reused.

Nominations to the New Hampshire Seven to Save list can be for residential or commercial sites, industrial heritage sites such as bridges or transportation structures, agricultural buildings, or even threatened building types or group nominations. Anyone can submit a nomination for the Seven to Save list - concerned citizens, neighborhood advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, etc. Nomination forms may be downloaded at the Preservation Alliance's website, www.nhpreservation.org, or may be requested from the Preservation Alliance office at 224-2281. The deadline is September 18.

Seven to Save is generously sponsored by Lincoln Financial Foundation, Inc., g2+1 LLC, F.H. Hamblet Electrical Contractors, Hardware Management & Design, Lavasseur Electrical Contractors, Inc., Mamakating Electric, and Roedel Companies.