Fifty years after the 1964 World’s Fair opened, the New York State Pavilion, one of the last architectural vestiges of the fair, was named a “National Treasure” on Tuesday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The pavilion, which consists of a cluster of curved towers reminiscent of the television cartoon “The Jetsons,” has deteriorated over the decades, and the structures are permanently closed, their surfaces marred by rust.

The New York City parks department has been studying options for the site’s restoration, and the designation by the National Trust, a nonprofit, could help raise money for that effort.

The pavilion, which is in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the site of both the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs, joins more than 40 other so-called National Treasures nationwide. They are generally historic, cultural or natural sites threatened by development or neglect. Among them are the rustic bridges of Yosemite National Park, the National Cathedral in Washington, the Astrodome sports stadium in Houston and the Ellis Island hospital complex.