WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vermont was designated an "endangered place" on Monday by preservationists who say Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, threatens the picturesque state with huge new stores that smash rural life.
In its annual list of most endangered historic places, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included the state of Vermont because of an "onslaught of big-box" stores by Wal-Mart, the Arkansas-based retailer.
Trust President Richard Moe said Wal-Mart planned to "saturate" Vermont -- known for its quaint villages, winding back roads and strong sense of community -- with seven new "Super Stores."
These stores, said Moe, would spur more development, sprawl and lead to disinvestment in historic downtown areas and a loss of locally owned business.
"We are sounding the alarm bell that Vermonters need to pay attention to this," Moe said in an interview, pointing out that Vermont also made its list in 1993 for the same reasons.
He criticized Wal-Mart and other retailers for not consulting properly with local communities before building giant stores, which changed the fabric of community life.
"We think Wal-Mart and other big box retailers should work with communities and have stores of a size and a design which are compatible with the community," he said.
In Vermont, Moe said there were currently four Wal-Mart Stores amounting to about 300,000 square feet of space and the company proposed quadrupling this to at least 1.3 million square feet in seven new stores.
"Vermont is a small state and it is uniquely a state of small towns. There is no question the character of this state will be dramatically changed if those seven stores are built," he said.
Wal-Mart said it had not yet seen the new list and would comment when it had more details.
OTHER SITES IN DANGER
In its list of endangered places, the National Trust also named Nine Mile Canyon in a remote part of Utah.
The canyon is called the world's "longest art gallery" for its 10,000 native American rock art images and the Trust said it was threatened by extensive oil and gas exploration plans.
Ridgewood Ranch in northern California, the resting place of famous racehorse Seabiscuit, was also in jeopardy as well as historic Cook County Hospital in Chicago which faced the wrecking ball unless money could be found to save it.
Other sites included wood-frame tobacco barns in southern Maryland and the Madison-Lenox hotel in Detroit. Built in 1901, the hotel is an example of turn-of-the-century architecture which the Trust believes could play an important role in the area's renaissance.
Two buildings from the recent past, the George Kraigher House in Brownsville Texas, built by American architect Richard Neutra and 2 Columbus Circle by architect Edward Durrell Stone, on the southwest corner of Central Park in New York City, also faced demolition.
"Scholars are just now beginning to study and evaluate buildings from the recent past. It's critical that we protect these structures from destruction now when they are most vulnerable so that they are with us 50 years from now," said Moe.