Prescott Park upgrades to protect against climate change fast-tracked to 2023

PORTSMOUTH — Construction on the initial phase of improvements aimed at protecting the city’s beloved Prescott Park from the effects of climate change could begin as soon as spring 2023.

Tom Watson, who leads the city committee in charge of master plan upgrades at the park, urged the City Council this week to begin work on the long-discussed improvements to the park, which hosts the popular Prescott Park Arts Festival every summer.

Watson called the park, which sits on the banks of the Piscataqua River, “the crown jewel of our downtown” and stressed the need to begin work as soon as possible to protect it.

He asked the council to change the planned first phase of the work into Phase 1A and Phase 1B, so it could start sooner.

But Watson also acknowledged that his committee “feels it’s important to actually have something to show on this site now six years into the planning process.”

He noted too that when the master plan was being developed, there was discussion about the work to the park potentially being done as some sort of a public/private partnership.

“I think it’s important for people who are potentially contributors when we get to that stage to see there is some progress going on,” Watson told the City Council during a meeting earlier this week.

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The City Council voted 8-1 to support a motion by City Councilor Josh Denton to change the implementation of the Prescott Park master plan, with an anticipated starting date of spring 2023. Councilor Andrew Bagley cast the lone no vote, objecting to spending millions to renovate the Shaw Warehouse.

The work in Phase 1A of the renovations will include raising and moving the Shaw Warehouse, installing new stormwater, gas and water utilities under Water Street, which runs through the park, along with resurfacing and raising Water Street.

The new stormwater system will drain excess water and runoff into the Piscataqua River.

Phase 1A work, according to documents released by the committee, will also include creating a new long sloping lawn in the center of the park that’s three feet higher.

Price tag for initial improvements

Department of Public Works Director Peter Rice said that the cost of the Phase 1A work is expected to be about $2.7 million, which will come from the remaining $3.52 million that was previously appropriated for the project.

Watson stated the Phase 1A work would not hinder the normal operations of the Prescott Park Arts Festival.

But the Shaw Warehouse would remain “mothballed” after it’s moved until more money is approved for a proposed addition to the historic building.

Climate change impacting the park

Before the council’s vote, Watson explained that the committee realized over time as it continued to work on the project that it would need to make addressing climate change impacts at the park a top priority.

“It became apparent that we needed to focus immediately on those low areas where the water indentation was occurring, which was also going to suffer …from increased high water levels of the Piscataqua River going forward,” he said. “If we didn’t do that we could spend a lot of time in these other areas and have our master plan subverted, if you will, by the impacts of the environment.”

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Flooding and water collecting on the ground and lawns is a main problem in the center of the park, Watson explained, describing the area as “the rail if you will that runs right down through Water Street, and includes the warehouses etc.”

The water tends to gather at the center of Prescott Park, which is the lowest point there, along with the center of Strawbery Banke, which is located across Marcy Street.

“They all drain into that area, which causes a lot of surface accumulated water, not necessarily flooding, but enough so it impacts the buildings, it impacts the uses of the park, in that area,” Watson said.

Master plan goals

The overall master plan “called for a substantial redesign of the park, which would retain most of the really important characteristics that existed in the park and then enhance the park with new features or taking some of those existing features and making them better,” he said.

During Monday’s meeting, City Councilor John Tabor said he has heard concerns from neighbors about the possibility the Shaw Warehouse would remain “empty for a long time.”

“How do we create some certainty that Phase 1 gets done and we can see clearly what the next steps are to finish all of Phase 1 after 1A is finished,” said Tabor, who is also chair of the Prescott Park Arts Festival’s Board of Directors.

Watson replied that the city will protect the Shaw Warehouse while it’s not being used to ensure it “doesn’t become just a pile of timbers sitting on top of railroad ties.”

“Ultimately it will be up to this community whether it’s private or public or a combination to decide if they’re going to build this thing,” Watson said. “This is just one component of a complete revision of that park.”

'A demonstration project'

City Councilor Vince Lombardi said the park’s master plan is “somewhat of a demonstration project.”

“The city is taking real steps to mitigate climate change along our coast,” he said. “I think we’re going to see a lot more areas and places where that’s going to be necessary, including private property.”

City Councilor Rich Blalock voiced his support for the project, noting “we all talked about mitigating the sea level change, climate change, preserving our history.”

“This plan that you presented to us does all those things, it mitigates the sea level, it mitigates climate change, and it preserves our history,” Blalock said.

City Councilor Kate Cook called the planned improvements to Prescott Park “critical,” adding that “we have to start thinking about sea level rise and mitigation efforts."

“This is kind of the first effort as a city to see what we can do to preserve our historic structures in the middle of a park and also preserve our park,” she said.

Cook did say she was concerned “about not having all the funding in place.”

Bagley said the city was “putting too much investment into a building (Shaw Warehouse) that is not historically significant enough for this public investment.”

Along with the monies set aside for Phase 1A of the work, Rice said the estimate is it will cost another $4.3 million to build the planned addition to the Shaw Warehouse and make the rest of it code compliant.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Prescott Park upgrades against rising waters to begin in spring 2023