11 Most Endangered Historic Places

Eisenhower VA Medical Center

Year Listed: 2000
Location: Leavenworth, Kansas
Threat: Development

Photo: Architectural Fotographics/Treanor Architects

Significance

These handsome red brick facilities on a bluff high above the Missouri River form the core of the National Home of the Disabled Volunteer Soldier Historic District. Constructed in Georgian and Romanesque Revival styles by master builder James McGonigle, the architecturally distinctive buildings have remained essentially intact since their construction. That, however, almost changed in 2000, when the Department of Veterans Affairs wanted to demolish 39 of the buildings as part of a downsizing project. The cleared land would have been used for cemetery expansion.