MANITOGA DECLARED A NATIONAL LANDMARK BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: ONE OF FEW MODERN 20TH-CENTURY SITES TO ACHIEVE THIS RECOGNITION
On February 21, 2006, United States Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, following the recommendation of the National Park Service Advisory Board, designated Manitoga as a National Historic Landmark. With this honor, the highest level of national recognition for historic sites, Manitoga joins a select company of fewer than 2,500 other historic places in our country. In addition to being the first site in Putnam County granted NHL status, it is of special importance because of the rarity of 20th-century sites which have been deemed qualified. As a National Historic Landmark, Manitoga joins such esteemed 20th century properties as Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater and the Walter Gropius home in Lincoln, Massachusetts . Secretary Norton said National Historic Landmarks include: "places where significant historical events occurred, where prominent Americans worked or lived" and places that "represent ideas that shaped the nation, that provide important information about our past, or that are outstanding examples of design or construction. National Landmarks make tangible the American experience."
The application for National Historic Landmark designation was submitted to the Department of the Interior on Manitoga's behalf by Kathleen LaFrank of the New York State Historic Preservation Office, a division of Commissioner Bernadette Castro's New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Ms. Castro, appointed by Governor George Pataki, has been a consistent supporter of Manitoga and visited here in October last year when she unveiled our "Preserve America" road sign. Manitoga Co-President Margaret Doyle and Executive Director Anita Pidala represented Manitoga in Washington, DC at the National Park Service Advisory Board National Historic Landmark hearings in October 2005. We would like to express our deep appreciation to the many scholars, politicians, designers and community leaders who sent letters of support to the Department of the Interior on our behalf.
A celebration of the news and press conference was held on February 22 at Manitoga, and was attended by Congresswoman Sue Kelly and Putnam County Legislator Vinny Tamagna, both of whom were instrumental in seeing Manitoga's application through to success. Board members and friends of Manitoga toasted our great news. Manitoga's National Historic Landmark designation will raise our profile both at home and internationally, and we are looking forward to taking this piece of 20th Ðcentury American history into the future with the care and integrity which any place of such importance warrants and deserves.