Portsmouth's damaged British phone box: Myths and truths as city looks to repair 1984 gift

PORTSMOUTH — A gift from Portsmouth’s friendship namesake city in England, gifted decades ago, is slated for rehabilitation after falling into disrepair over the years outside the Portsmouth Historical Society.

The red telephone booth, or phone box, with four crowns emblazoned on it, has been a run-down fixture outside the former public library building. Marked “telephone” on each side despite having no telephone hooked up inside, it has been broken into and marred with graffiti over time. Glass panels are missing, red paint is fading and trash has been dumped inside it.

In recent days, the telephone booth, given to Portsmouth, New Hampshire by Portsmouth, England years ago, has been wrapped up, preventing potential further damage as the city prepares to ship it off for an overhaul.

Monte Bohanan, a city spokesperson, said Portsmouth put out a request for proposals, seeking a firm to revive the telephone booth. The deadline for proposals closed Wednesday, March 29.

It is expected the company chosen to repair the dilapidated phone booth will take it away, fix the broken glass, clean it, repaint it and return it to the city in a few months, Bohanan said.

“Whether or not the phone box returns to its original location or if it will move is yet to be determined,” he added.

The request for proposals, however, indicates the refurbished telephone booth may be placed inside the modern-day Portsmouth Public Library on Parrott Avenue after it is repaired, giving it shelter and security from potential vandals.

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The city is looking for work to be completed on the telephone booth in 90 days or less.

The scope of work, according to the proposal, includes preserving the original HMS Sirius ship’s crest on the interior wall, removing glass and remaining fittings, sandblasting, multiple coats of paint, reglazing the booth with safety glass in glazing frames, installing a push/pull safety glass panel, restoring hinges and door pull handle, and repainting the gold crowns.

No, King Charles didn't give the phone box to Portsmouth

In 1973, amid the city’s ongoing festivities to mark its 350th anniversary of settlement, a royal bachelor dressed in his Royal Navy uniform sailed into Portsmouth Harbor to meet with city leaders and residents in a multi-day stay.

The visitor aboard the HMS Minerva? None other than Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, who was proclaimed King of England last year following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

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A common misconception is the prince came bearing the gift of the red telephone booth, a myth debunked by written record. In 1993, the Portsmouth Herald reported the structure was a gift from Portsmouth, England, having sailed on the HMS Sirius amid its visit to New Hampshire in 1984, more than a decade after then-Prince Charles visited.

“Tourists and other visitors taking a stroll through the city’s downtown area must sometimes wonder whether they’re in Portsmouth, New England, or Portsmouth, old England,” the article reads.

Portsmouth’s telephone booth is thought to be a K6 model, short for Kiosk No. 6, which was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in honor of King George V’s Silver Jubilee in 1935.

More improvements coming to current phone box site

Located on the Islington Street side of the Portsmouth Historical Society building, the phone booth is in an area soon to see a new phase of construction. The next phase of the Islington Street corridor project is expected to kick off in early April and includes replacement of underground utilities, roadway reconstruction, curbing and sidewalk installations, and landscaping improvements, such as adding ornamental lighting, street trees and benches.

“The work will continue to proceed in discrete sections in order to limit the impact to residents and businesses; and will be a large step in the revitalization of the West End neighborhood,” a city description of the upcoming work states. “The goal of this project is to create a ‘complete street’ and will include improvements to the streetscape, traffic signals, utilities, pedestrian facilities, transit and vehicular roadway.”

Construction on the next phase of the Islington Street project is likely to last into the fall, according to the city.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth NH to repair red phone box gifted by Portsmouth, England