Group Tries to Help Odds of Landmark

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is taking up the cause of the Mapes Hotel, placing the former luxury hotel and casino--a favorite of Hollywood 40 years ago--on its list of the country’s most endangered historic places.

The trust scheduled news conferences today in Washington, D.C., and locations around the country, including Reno, to announce that it is including the hotel on a list of “11 Most Endangered Historic Places.”

The brick hotel, built in 1947, sits vacant on the banks of the Truckee River in downtown Reno. Local preservationists are trying to save it from the wrecking ball.

“The Mapes Hotel has incredible reuse potential and if restored, would bring new vitality to downtown Reno,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The Mapes, built in an Art Deco style, was the first hotel in the country to feature gambling, dining, entertainment and luxury accommodations under one roof.

The city of Reno has scratched previous demolition deadlines while asking developers to determine the feasibility of a plan to convert the old hotel to condominiums and retail space.

Past estimates, however, have found the costs prohibitive. If no deal is struck in three months, the hotel is to be demolished in January.

The trust is a nonprofit group that claims more than 270,000 members nationwide. Leaders said their listings do not ensure protection of a site or guarantee funding, but have proven to be a powerful tool for rallying resources to save threatened sites.

They count as key victories in the past the Antietam Battlefield in Maryland, Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., and the last remaining original McDonald’s in Downey.

Other sites on this year’s list and the threats they face, according to the trust:

* Governors Island, N.Y.: Centuries-old military structures on New York harbor island face uncertain future.

* Chancellorsville Battlefield, Spotsylvania County, Va.: Civil War battlefield where Stonewall Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own Confederate troops is threatened by development.

* Mesa Verde National Park, Colo.: Lack of National Park Service funds threaten collection of cliff dwellings.

* Cannery Row, Monterey: Bayside industrial neighborhood immortalized by John Steinbeck is threatened by development.

* Great Bowdoin Mill, Topsham, Maine: 120-year-old paper mill sits vacant.

* Monocacy Aqueduct, Md.: A link in the C&O; canal damaged by floods.

* Michigan’s Historic Lighthouses, DeTour Reef Light, Chippewa County, Mich.: Maritime landmarks being disposed of by the Coast Guard.

* Various sites in Texas: The state’s 225 historic county courthouses are deteriorating.

* Black Hawk and Central City, Colo.: Gambling-related development threatens to destroy historic character.

* Nationwide: Historically black colleges and universities nationwide need funding and rehabilitation.