Every year, Yarmouth-based nonprofit Maine Preservation lists 10 historic structures or properties or groups of properties it says have fallen into danger because they have been abandoned or neglected, or are subject to natural effects such as flooding or erosion.

This year, however, the organization has selected the entire Wiscasset downtown. It sees the downtown as endangered by the Maine Department of Transportation’s project. It also put on the list the Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission and the ordinance that guides the commission. The ordinance is currently under consideration by selectmen to face repeal in the November election.

For each of the properties Maine Preservation lists as endangered, the organization gives a small story about the property’s history, outlines the current threat it considers the site to be under, and suggests potential solutions.

The organization cited MDOT’s taking of the Haggett showroom building by eminent domain, the fact the project does not use federal dollars, and the loss of Route 1 parking in front of downtown businesses among the reasons why Wiscasset’s historic downtown is “endangered.”

In terms of solutions, the organization recommended trial runs – temporary traffic lights and temporary parking measures – before moving forward with the plan. Because Route 1 is a state road, MDOT has said it does not need permission to do work. It has engaged with the town through regular monthly meetings with the Public Advisory Committee to craft a streetscape, identify handicapped parking and address other aspects of the project.

Contacted for comment on Maine Preservation’s announcement, MDOT spokesman Ted Talbot wrote in an email Friday: “MaineDOT takes very seriously the consideration of impacts to historic places and properties in its decision making. Maine Preservation’s text regarding MaineDOT’s Wiscasset Downtown Route 1 project is very slanted and contains the same misleading information presented by those attempting to stall or stop the project.

“Maine Preservation did not contact MaineDOT to obtain any facts or comment regarding the project; and they do not carry any authoritative, advisory or regulatory role in the review of MaineDOT projects,” Talbot wrote.

As for the commission, Maine Preservation said the threat involved the potential revocation of the ordinance, following a complaint by a citizen. Maine Preservation stated the commission had been in place for only a year, and had not had time to educate the citizens about the benefits of being part of a historic district. The commission has been meeting since November 2015.

The solution, Maine Preservation said, was to give the commission time to convince the local people that the inconvenience of submitting plans for alterations to historic structures to the commission was outweighed by the potential economic development to the town.

Seaver Leslie, who serves on the citizen advisory board to MDOT, agreed. “People who know American architecture have a great deal of respect for towns that work to preserve their historic character,” he said. “We don’t have a great deal of industry here in Wiscasset, so this is the only real resource we have, as a town.” He sees Wiscasset’s tourism potential as vital to the town’s economic future.

Wendy Donovan, a member of the commission, said she was thrilled to have seen the information on television, and hoped Wiscasset citizens would get a chance to visit mainepreservation.org,  before the town makes a decision about whether or not to take a vote in November about rescinding the ordinance.

Attempts to reach Wiscasset Selectmen’s Chairman Judy Colby for comment were not immediately successful. Vice Chairman Ben Rines Jr. said he could not comment on the issue.

In addition to Wiscasset and its Historic Preservation Commission, the organization also named the Frank J. Wood Bridge in Brunswick and Topsham, the the Mary E. Taylor School in Camden, Waldo Theatre in Waldoboro, the Bowery Beach Schoolhouse in Cape Elizabeth, the A.B. Seavey House in Saco, and generally, historic residential neighborhoods, coastal and waterfront communities, historic houses and land trusts, as “most endangered.”