The Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site is joining 15 locations across eight states that were significant in the civil-rights movement in trying to achieve a World Heritage site distinction to elevate tourism levels, officials announced Tuesday.
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"With this designation, we'll have a rare chance to remind thousands of visitors -- both domestic and international -- that there is hope, that humanity can continue its progress toward freedom and dignity for all," said Joe David Rice, tourism director for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
Little Rock Central High School became internationally known in 1957, when nine black students integrated the school.
A World Heritage site meets at least one of the 10 criteria set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Criteria include cultural elements such as representing "a masterpiece of human creative genius" and natural elements such as containing "superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance."
Central High would be the first World Heritage site in Arkansas. There are just three World Heritage sites in the South -- Everglades National Park in Florida, Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point in Louisiana and the San Antonio Missions in Texas, officials said.
The school meets UNESCO's criteria already as a National Park Service site. For a place to reach national park status, it must meet similar criteria to those required by UNESCO for a World Heritage site, said Gretchen Hall, president and chief executive officer for the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Bureau officials have been working on the nomination with officials from other sites for about a year, Hall said.
Applying for the designation could take a few years, she said.
For the next few months, researchers will check the background of the 16 sites to make sure they meet the necessary criteria and to determine what kind of economic impact the distinction would have on the locations, Hall said.
After the research is completed, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service will review and approve the sites before they are submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Hall said.
The committee consists of elected representatives from 21 countries that have signed the World Heritage Convention, officials said.
There are 1,031 World Heritage sites, and 23 of those are in the United States, according to the UNESCO website.
International locations with this distinction include Egypt's pyramids, Australia's Great Barrier Reef and the City of Verona in Italy, according to the website.
"You can see the level of these sites worldwide and what this designation would bring to tourism, not only for Little Rock, but for the entire state of Arkansas and the Southern region," Hall said.
U.S. sites include Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park and the Statue of Liberty.
Five frontier missions in San Antonio, including the Alamo, received this distinction as a group last year, according to the website.
"Just being on that list, awareness-wise, is huge," Rice said.
Grouping locations like the 16 announced Tuesday makes them more significant to the UNESCO review committee, Hall said.
Rice said he hopes to have a news conference in a couple of years to announce that the Central High site has been named a World Heritage site.
"We're very optimistic," he said.
Metro on 07/06/2016