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A hangar in Tillamook used for blimps during World War II and a building in Salem where a state official was murdered have something in common.

They were among the buildings named this year as Oregon’s Most Endangered Places by Historic Preservation League of Oregon officials. The 2013 list was released Thursday at an annual luncheon hosted by the organization.

This list includes:

• Antelope School in Antelope

• Astoria Marine Construction Co. in Astoria

• Dirigible Hangar B in Tillamook

• The Dalles Chinatown site in The Dalles

• Dome Building in Salem

• Knotts Owen Barn in Corvallis

• Multnomah Courthouse in Portland

• Pioneer Mothers Cabin in Champoeg

• Saling House in Weston

• Oregon Trail Pioneer Farmsteads in the Willamette Valley

Michael Francke, the director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, was found stabbed to death in front of the Dome Building on the Oregon State Hospital grounds in 1989. State officials plan to sell 48 acres of the grounds – including the 83-year-old building – to a private developer for approximately $100 million.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said Hazel Patton, a Salem resident who was the driving force in the effort to establish a museum on the hospital grounds. “A lot of unfortunate things have happened in those buildings. That shouldn’t define what they are.”

As for the blimp hangar, it currently houses the Tillamook Air Museum, but the museum is set to move to Madras. That leaves the future of the world’s largest free-standing, clear-span wood structure up in the air.

Tillamook County Commissioner Bill Baertlein said he served on the Port of Tillamook board when a survey of the hangar’s maintenance needs was performed.

“It would cost $15 million to fix everything that needs fixing,” Baertlein said. “That’s a big chunk of money for a small community.”

Patton said she’s doesn’t know what will happen to the Dome Building now that it’s on the HPLO’s list.

“It’s on the National Register (of Historic Places), but I feel that there are a lot of unknowns as to what is happening on that side of the campus,” she said. “It’s good that it’s on the list, but I don’t (know) what that will do for the building at this point.”

The Endangered Places list was designed to help, said Peggy Moretti, executive director of the HPLO.

“It has proven to be very helpful for places to be included on the list,” she said. “It spotlights them as having been reviewed and deemed important historically and economically.”

The Egyptian Theatre in Coos Bay provides a good example, Moretti said. It was shut down because of seismic concerns, and then was added to the list for 2012.

“Before it made the list, people were just kind of stuck, not knowing what to do,” she said. “The theater needed several million (dollars worth of) renovations, but the bids were all too high. You could tell people were ready to throw up their hands, but they really loved this theater.”

After the theater was added to the list, HPLO officials were able to connect Coos Bay stakeholders with grant sources and other resources. One of the results was a $400,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation.

“That’s an example of a place that really benefited from the list,” Moretti said. “The list just raises the profile of a building and focuses attention in a positive way. We don’t want to be wagging our finger. We want to be positive.”

Nominations for the list are taken from ordinary citizens rather than HPLO members, and then evaluated in terms of urgency, historical significance, long-term viability and community support.

“We really rely on regular folks around the state,” Moretti said.

More than two dozen nominations were received for this year’s list.

“Over the course of the next year we’ll bring together rehabilitation expertise, resources and local support to revitalize these properties,” she said. “We want to see them function as contributing assets in their communities and passed forward to future generations.”