The Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation released the list of endangered sites, adding 14 this year that are in need of restoration. Three of the sites are in Northeast Louisiana, including the Palace Theater in Jonesboro and two abandoned schools in Winn Parish.

The list is created from people sending in nominations to include a site on the list.

Brian Davis, the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation Executive Director, explains the process.

“We always consider those once a year an ad the committee reviews it and then decides which ones were able to hopefully help by doing some advocacy work and providing more technical services to those sites and their owners,“ said Davis.

Once selected, they visit the sites and speak to the owners to see if it has the possibility of being restored.

“Kind of understand the site’s better, really do a deep dive on the site’s their owners, their needs, the threats that they’re faced, seeing if there are, you know, historic tax credits like state or federal tax credits, other grants or anything else like that that may be able to help fund these projects and get them back in good shape,” said Davis.

This helps communities restore their identity as these buildings are part of the unique fingerprint they have on them. Originally built before 1924, the Palace Theater served as the only professional entertainment venue in Jonesboro for years and was a significant architectural landmark. 

To see the total list of the 14 locations across the state that were included on the restoration list, click here.