Splaine: Good Portsmouth building projects like Brick Market shape city's future
Watching meetings of Portsmouth's land-use boards — the Zoning Board of Adjustment, Planning Board, Conservation Commission and Historic District Commission — provides a good idea about what the future of our city will be. Those members are unsung heroes spending hours on often dry but always important matters. Their task: to define, plan, vision, and protect the neighborhoods of our good city.
Developers are good people. Those who have intent to make positive contributions with their creations, instead of just looking for profit, are developers most of us can support and appreciate. Some people say those of us who have been here a long time are "NIMBYS," i.e. "not in my back yard." But most of us know good developers are the bridgemakers between our past and our future.
We need good developers as we look toward our next hundred years. Those who will call Portsmouth "home" in 2123 at our 500th anniversary should be able to enjoy the blend of the old Portsmouth of long ago that we see, and the new Portsmouth of what will happen in the next 10 decades.
During 2022, I would rank the Brick Market building on Daniel and Penhallow Streets with five stars. Developer Mark McNabb does good work, including an amazing restoration of the old Portsmouth police station, but this is his crowning achievement, so far. Not everyone cheers for it right now, but in time I think it will become one of our most appreciated buildings — a winner for the ages. Unlike some other recent construction, it will be standing in a hundred years.
More:Hearth Food Garden has healthy food vision for Portsmouth Brick Market.
The Ruth Lewin Griffin Place on Court Street, named after a real Portsmouth — in fact, New Hampshire — legend, provides over 60 workforce housing units in our downtown. Built by the Portsmouth Housing Authority, led by Craig Welch, it embodies a unique casual beauty on the outside with very livable comfortable housing on the inside. Craig has shown his ability to vision and encourage great designs, and we can hope he will do more. Maybe some micro-housing is in the works for couples or live-aloners who put location ahead of space?
2022 story:New affordable apartments in downtown Portsmouth. Here's a look inside and rent prices.
The old YMCA on Congress Street tugs at my heart. Back in the 1970s, when I was on the City Council and that street was being widened, I opposed taking part of that building down just so the street could be a bit bigger. Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, my brother John and I spent a lot of time on the basketball court, and showered there often since our North End home, just a three-minute walk away, had no shower or bathtub.
So to see what the Labrie family did in undertaking an incredible restoration is a gift to Portsmouth's future. Now known as Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club, it is already historic and will become more so in coming decades. The sweat and innovation put into it by this family, who also brought us the skating rink at Puddle Duck Pond, doubles the lifespan of a building already over a hundred years old. Let's hope other developers take old buildings and instead of tearing them down, make them better and repurposed for our newer generations.
When Portsmouth celebrates its 500th anniversary, all of these buildings will still be here, having served the needs of hundreds of thousands of people from now until then. Along with other well-built buildings like the old Rockingham Hotel, the North Church, the old Farragut, Whipple, and Haven Schools and others, they were built by developers who have Portsmouth's future in mind.
While that's happening, let's hope that the beautiful vistas and shores of the North Mill Pond are not filled with more large buildings or expensive condos. We should maintain the comparatively affordable housing of our West End and the Creek area, without the clutter and influx of more hotels and office buildings.
Watch those hard-working land-use boards that help decide Portsmouth's future blueprint. You'll see how they work with designers and architects to massage projects. The meetings are open, transparent, well-run, cordial and respectful. They welcome you to participate and help decide that future.
Today's quote: "It's OK that Portsmouth changes and grows. The alternative is stagnation." — Paul McEachern's advice he often told me during our frequent lunches.
Next time: Jan. 16: Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Jim Splaine has served variously since 1969 as Portsmouth assistant mayor, Police Commission member, and School Board member, as well as New Hampshire state senator and representative. He can be reached at jimsplaineportsmouth@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Splaine: Good Portsmouth building projects shape city's future
