WILLISTON, Vt. (AP) – When the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the entire state of Vermont on the 1993 list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places, Steve Bradish was thrilled. He hoped the designation would help save his hometown from being paved over.

It didn’t.

Big box stores now dominate what was once an area of scattered buildings, open pasture and forest land.

“We thought we had won the battle,” said Bradish, a Williston native and one of many residents who fought against the giant retailer Wal-Mart when it planned to open a store here in the early 1990s.

Wal-Mart ultimately opened the store in 1996, striking a blow to Bradish and other activists.

But the decade since the trust’s designation has brought success stories in saving Vermont’s downtowns and slowing sprawl.

Preservationists are quick to point out these successes: Bellows Falls and Brandon, for example, where once derelict downtowns are now populated with artists’ shops, restaurants and small retailers; conservation programs that have helped keep many farms viable and land free of development.

The greatest impact, though, of declaring the state an endangered place may simply have been in calling attention to the problem.

In making the designation, Richard Moe, the president of the National Trust, said he feared fast-moving commercial development would ruin some of the state’s most stunning vistas and historic small towns.

“Large-scale uncontrolled commercial development threatens to drain the economic vitality out of these towns and change the nature and character of Vermont,” said Moe at the time.

Then-Gov. Howard Dean called the listing a “wake-up call.” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., urged his constituents to “not repeat the mistakes that would change the rural characteristics of our state.”

Recalling the designation, experts said the nationwide focus on Vermont charged debates over – and raised awareness of – development within the state. “The definition elevated the debate to a higher level,” said Paul Bruhn, the executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont.

“It got coverage all over the country, and on some level helped people understand what Vermont is.”

Developer Ernie Pomerleau agreed.

“The designation generated a lot of dialogue about the way we develop in Vermont,” said Pomerleau. “It brought a lot of questions to the surface: What is sprawl? What is development?”

These questions continue to resonate in Vermont’s downtowns and the state’s countryside, both of which began to receive greater attention in the wake of the 1993 listing.

Vermont’s endangered status bolstered efforts to protect its rural landscape, strengthening the push to keep the state’s countryside productive and open.

The 1990s saw the Vermont Land Trust, a land conservation group, help protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land across the state through conservation easements and the sale of development rights.

Darby Bradley, the president of the land trust, said the National Trust’s listing may not have affected the average Vermonter – but it was a stark reminder to preservationists and state officials of how Vermont was changing.

“It was a kick to the community that identified themselves with land conservation,” said Bradley. “It was a reminder that we live in Vermont, that we have something special.”

The endangered designation also cast a spotlight on the state’s town and city centers. In 1994 the state Division for Historic Preservation created a program to promote growth in Vermont’s downtowns.

While officials said the downtown program was not the direct result of the trust’s designation, the debate it spawned forced people’s attention to the vulnerability of downtown businesses to competition from big retailers.

“In the decades before the 1990s we didn’t realize how vulnerable we were,” said Jane Lendway, the state’s acting historic preservation officer. “The whole face of retail was beginning to change. Department stores, retail stores were just beginning to feel the pinch from mail-order catalogues and larger stores.”

Originally a place where town officials could come for technical assistance, the purpose of the downtown program grew with the passage of 1998’s Downtown Development Act.

The legislation made available tax credits, loans and grants for towns that demonstrated a commitment to improving local infrastructure, providing jobs and preserving historic buildings.

To date 17 downtowns have met the standards for state designation, Lendway said.

But even though some downtowns seem on a better footing, vacant storefronts remain visible in a few communities – in Winooski, for example, or Brattleboro – and challenges remain for her agency, Lendway said.

One of those, she said, is convincing people why preserving Vermont’s downtowns matters.

“It’s difficult to quantify the importance of the whole picture of what makes Vermont Vermont,” Lendway said.

But doing this, Pomerleau said, is critical in the ongoing conversation about development in Vermont.

“There’s no simple template of whether to build inside or outside a downtown,” said Pomerleau. “But everybody agrees that you need to save the core. Without the core you’re Anywhere, U.S.A.”

AP-ES-02-21-04 1155EST