The Concord, NH Gasholder Is Worth Saving
Recent media coverage draws contrasts between the effort to save the Gasholder and historic resources that have been lost, like the 1885 Concord, NH train station.
2022 was a good year for the Gasholder, thanks in no small part to your support and engagement. After more than a year of intensive planning and seven months of complex engineering and preservation work, the Gasholder is now safe, stabilized and weathertight. Infrastructure is in place for the next phase of work on masonry, roof, and other elements. With collapse and demolition averted, the N.H. Preservation Alliance and our project partners Liberty and the City of Concord are looking with hope toward the landmark’s future.
In the December issue of NH Magazine, editor Rick Broussard makes a thought-provoking case for the Gasholder’s preservation by contrasting it with the demolition of Concord’s 1885 train station, lost in 1959 to urban renewal. “Contrasting the glory of what stood before,” he wrote, “with the mundanity of what is now… a sprawling strip mall… is one of the most fervent laments heard from our state’s preservationist community.” Historical resources like the Gasholder, he continued, are “like old photos or heirlooms to a family” – worth saving. Rick envisioned the 2-acre Gasholder site becoming “a pedestrian-friendly element in a redevelopment” of the South End neighborhood or a “highly visible focal point of a new park or series of walking trails.”
There was also a nice shout-out about the Society for Industrial Archaeology’s support for the Gasholder in a December 29 Monitor article about the bridge at Livermore Falls. The SIA will cover the completion of Phase 1 of stabilization in its next newsletter issue.
Our Gasholder news is spreading nationally and abroad as well. International gas historian Russell Thomas of the UK is writing a piece about the Gasholder’s history and revitalization for Gas International Magazine while also spreading the news to his 7,500 LinkedIn followers. We’ll share links when these articles are published.
Over the past two years the Preservation Alliance, Liberty, and the City of Concord have worked to reverse Liberty’s 2020 demolition recommendation and come up with a plan leading to the National Register-listed landmark’s protection and property’s use. More on the parties’ spring 2021 agreements here. Want to know more about the stabilization work? Check out this series of short video interviews with the project partners produced by John Gfroerer for the Preservation Alliance and the Concord Historical Society.
There is a long way to go in 2023 and beyond. We look forward to another good year and welcome your thoughts/comments by email (note Gasholder in the subject line) or phone at (603) 224-2281.