World Monuments Fund Adds New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as the 101st Site on the 2006 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites

The World Monuments Fund (WMF), the leading international organization dedicated to preserving cultural and architectural sites around the world, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the leading national organization devoted to saving historic places and revitalizing America’s communities, announced today that they have agreed to form a partnership to advocate for restoration and sensitive reconstruction measures that respect the rich historic and cultural assets of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. This partnership, funded by a generous emergency grant of $200,000 from the American Express Foundation, will combine the substantial resources of both organizations and focus on the immediate needs of assessing the damage, presenting viable options for restoration, initiating the planning process for reconstruction, and making sure that property owners and others can secure the funds needed to undertake long-term preservation.