18 minute read
Cities on the Rise
CITIESONTHE
CITIES HAVE HISTORY. And histories, like life, are full of ups and downs. Cities will rise, decline and, with luck, rise again. New Hampshire is chock-full of cities with remarkable histories, with fortunes that have ebbed and flowed over the decades and the centuries. Today, on the heels of a lingering two-year pandemic, a number of Granite State cites have defied ennui and continue to flourish. Perhaps the best indication of a “city on the rise” is a vibrant arts scene. That can be the culinary arts, the visual arts and the performing arts (music and theatrical). All are important, and all contribute to a city’s general health and vitality. ➔
CITIESONTHE RISE
MANCHESTER
Manchester, the state’s largest city, has seen all the highs and lows of an urban center. During the 1970s and ’80s, as I was collecting my high school diploma from Manchester Central, the Queen City was experiencing the odd spasms of growing pains, with the massive textile mills along the Merrimack River falling into greater disrepair, and the mall sprawl stretching south toward Derry. It was difficult for me, an unabashed fan of the city’s economic anchor of Elm Street, to watch while businesses along this main thoroughfare withered.
Today, almost a half century later, Manchester’s downtown is again turning heads. Much of that has to do with an infusion of creative energy and good old-fashioned capital. Carol Robidoux, editor and publisher of Manchester Ink Link, says it’s nothing short of a cultural renaissance.
“Coming out of Covid, I’m seeing a ripple of new businesses opening their doors with a focus on social connection — The Goat, Angel City Music Hall, Diz’s Café, Industry East, Boards & Brews,” says Robidoux, who moved to the city in 2001. “The Shaskeen has always been that kind of place where the back of the house provides a mix of entertainment options. The Factory is bringing a distillery and an amphitheater to the south end of Elm Street, and is focused on creating a community around the arts.”
Robidoux also points to the Bookery, XO, To Share, HopKnot, and Stark Brewing, which have been “hosting some cool community spaces for everything from author talks and SEE Science Center’s monthly Science on Tap to Saint Anselm’s Center for Ethics in Society philosophical discussions,” says Robidoux.
“Even the Currier Museum has renewed its mission to connect with community in unexpected ways, striving to be truly accessible, including after-hours events, community festivals, and a ‘back door’ music venue,” she adds. “And speaking of museums, the Millyard Museum is seeing an uptick in membership that’s trending younger, attracting a generation interested in connecting the dots of history.”
Elizabeth “Liz” Hitchcock, a partner with her husband in the Orbit Group and a driving force behind The Bookery and Pinwheel Properties, including Factory and 848 Elm Street, says there’s a real synergy in the Queen City currently, uniting the arts and businesses. She sees the growth of retail businesses and housing downtown as “the linchpin to continuing growth in Manchester,” she says.
“Selfishly,” adds Hitchcock, “I also love the work that the arts organizations have been doing in Manchester as well, between the neighborhood block party at the Currier to The Rex at the Palace Theatres and the work that Bookery Manchester is doing. We know that arts is always the touchstone for growth in communities, and we have creatives in spades in Manchester.”
Stephen Thiel, Southern New Hampshire University’s assistant vice president of community impact, says there’s “a lot of entrepreneurial spirit flowing through the city, which can be seen in new busi-
The Rex is the Palace Theatres’ new 300-seat venue. The Currier Museum’s Art After Work program includes free exhibition tours and gallery admission to the museum, live music in the Winter Garden Café, happy hour drink specials, and a full menu available for purchase every Thursday night.
nesses like The Terracotta Room, new bars like Industry East, and new restaurants like Diz’s Café.” Those businesses, he says, not only provide an entertaining day or night out on the town but can also inspire others to become small-business owners.
“It’s easy to get excited by the work of Manchester Proud [a citywide movement working in close partnership with school district leadership and the Board of School Committee] helping to share the great work happening in our public schools or by nonprofits opening new facilities like Friends of Aine [a bereavement support group] or Girls at Work [an empowerment program],” Thiel says. “Each of these developments speak to a focus on collaboration that’s permeating through the city that was supercharged during the pandemic.”
Enthusiasm for change and growth can be found at all levels, Thiel says. “Businesses are stepping up to support schools, residents and local leaders are improving mobility through groups such as Manchester Moves,” he says, referring to the volunteer trail organization working to connect the city to the rest of the state via trails and greenways. “And city and federal officials are working to bring needed infrastructure investments to this region,” he says. “It’s heartening to see this collaboration continue.”
Like the mills along the Merrimack River, that type of collaboration has deep roots in Manchester.
“The beauty of Manchester is it’s a smalltown big city — people want to feel connected, they want more social spaces, more walkability and mobility options, they want local shopping options, and, yes, a train to Boston,” says Robidoux. “The people who are changing the face of the city come from all corners of art and industry and education and civil service.We are fortunate to have so many ambitious, intelligent and caring citizens.That’s what will continue to lift us up.” ➔
Bookery General Manager Benjamin Pasley with customers at the bookstore and café on Elm Street. A few doors down at Diz’s Café, you’ll find Billy Martin, left, and Gary “Diz” Window behind the counter, ready to serve their homestyle dishes. The Goat offers a classic country vibe, and offers burgers, a large whiskey selection, homestyle brunch, and live entertainment seven nights a week.
NASHUA
South of Manchester, the Gate City of Nashua has grown by leaps and bounds in the past four decades, evidenced by the construction of two new high schools (Nashua North and the Academy for Science and Design) and a rejuvenated downtown.
“I’ve always liked Nashua,” says Jennifer Woodhead, who recently moved from Pelham to the Gate City with her husband, Jamie, and their three children, Tommy, Lauren and Kristen. “When we learned about Academy for Science and Design, and given Tommy’s interest in engineering, the option of living in Nashua opened up to us,” she says.
But the appeal of Nashua extended far beyond the schools for this young family.
There are other perks too, she says. “The restaurant scene is great, with all types and ethnicities. Martha’s Exchange is probably the most well known, a popular restaurant that is also a brewery. Surf and Michael Timothy’s are the popular upscale choices. And there are two great Irish pubs — Casey McGee’s and The Peddler’s Daughter.”
This year, the list of attractions will introduce a new headliner, as the city plans to unveil the Nashua Center for the Arts, a 750-seat theater built right on Main Street. It’s the culmination of a collaboration of the city’s nonprofit arts organizations, coupled with encouragement from the Nashua Arts Commission, to “make the arts more accessible to all,” says Judy Carlson, a retired hightech advertising executive and active arts advocate for the past decade, serving on the Nashua Arts Commission and as secretary of Nashua Community Arts.
Nashua is also home to Symphony NH, celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, the Peacock Players, the state’s premier youth theater company, the annual Greeley Park Arts Show and ArtWalk, which is southern New Hampshire’s largest arts festival. That thriving arts scene is the result, in part, of a consistent, nonpartisan effort over the terms of Mayor Donnalee Lozeau and Mayor Jim Donchess, along with Nashua’s Board of Alderman, to prioritize the new Nashua Center for the Arts “and making repairs and upgrades to 14 Court Street that hosts community theater, arts organizations and new artist studios,” says Carlson.
“I’d like to see the city continue to support community arts organizations with further enhancements to 14 Court Street and keeping the Edmund Keefe Auditorium as a performance venue,” she says. “But we were missing what other cities like Portsmouth and Concord have — a state-of-the-art performance center to draw both residents and visitors to the city.”
Rich Lannan, president of Nashua Community Arts, the nonprofit behind the Nashua Center for the Arts, agrees, saying
Scheduled to open in the fall of 2022, the Nashua Center for the Arts is presently under construction. Its modern design and amenities meet the needs for an intimate audience experience. This 750-seat venue is located in the heart of downtown Nashua, right on Main Street.
the new venue “will add a whole other tier of art, performances and culture to the city.”
Lannan adds that a half-dozen new businesses — including restaurants, a candle shop, a men’s boutique and more — recently opened downtown, “and that’s in the middle of a pandemic,” he notes. “The addition of the performing arts center is only going to make all the businesses thrive even more and be a desirable place for others to locate their businesses in Nashua,” he says.
Day-to-day operations at the Center for the Arts will be managed by Spectacle Live, and the firm’s president, Peter Lally, says he sees nothing but potential in Nashua.
“As the center transitioned from dream to planning to construction, I’ve spent much more time in Nashua and have observed a great energy and dedication surrounding the arts center and the downtown,” says Lally. “I’m very excited that Spectacle gets the opportunity to be a part of the exciting future and positive energy of downtown Nashua.” ➔
Founded in 1923, Symphony NH is the premier symphony orchestra of the Granite State.
LACONIA
To the north, the college town of Plymouth has rallied around The Flying Monkey Movie House & Performance Center and Common Man Inn & Spa, which has spawned a number of outstanding spin-off spots, such as the intimate Six Burner Bistro situated in an 1850s-era farmhouse on Main Street (run by former Common Man staffers, including chef Sam Smyth). But if you’re traveling north on Interstate 93, you owe it to yourself to stop by the emerging lakeside city of Laconia.
Perhaps known best for its famed Motorcycle Week every June (which dates back to the original Loudon Classic motorcycle race in 1916) and Weirs Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee, Laconia is developing an admirable year-round reputation in the arts and entertainment realm. One great example is the 761-seat Colonial Theatre.
First opened in 1914 (two decades after the city was officially founded in 1893), the theater was designed by George I. Griffin for stage productions, and owned by an Italian immigrant, Benjamin Piscopo. In the early 1930s, the theater transitioned to motion pictures, and by 1983, it had been divvied up into five separate movie screens. It closed in 2002, after 87 years, but in 2015 city officials partnered with the Belknap Economic Development Council to purchase and renovate the Colonial. Restoration work began a year later, and the theater reopened in 2021.
“I was on the committee that was helping plan the Colonial renovation project,” says Bryan Halperin, who works for the historic Belknap Mill in downtown Laconia running Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, the resident theater company of both the Mill and the Colonial Theatre. “Excitement over that project almost immediately started attracting new businesses to the downtown area.”
Halperin notes that the Colonial’s renovation coincided with several residential projects (the city grew by 1,000 residents between 2010 and 2020), and the downtown now features a greater variety of businesses — Wayfarer Coffee, Burrito Me, Defiant Records & Craft Beer, Hector’s Fine Food & Spirits, and the Chaos and Kindness Experience (aka the CAKE) — and fewer vacant storefronts.
“As far as performing arts venues, the city has the Colonial Theatre, CAKE, The Lakeport Opera House and Granite State Music Hall, all in Laconia,” says Peter Lally, whose Spectacle Live firm handles bookings for the Colonial Theatre (in addition to the new Nashua Center for the Arts). “A year ago, it had just Granite State Music Hall. Three new live entertainment venues opening in the same year is amazing.”
The CAKE Theatre on Veterans Square is the performance venue for Recycled Percussion (band member Justin Spencer says the ensemble has invested more than $1 million into the property) as well as the Chaos and Kindness Experience, which is described as “an innovative brand and global movement” that, according to its website, believes “in the power of using our platform to inspire people to live a life of intention and passion, while giving back and spreading positivity.”
Still, it hasn’t been all wine and roses in Laconia. A popular live music hall, Pitman’s Freight Room, shuttered a year ago and was sold as a result of the pandemic. Former owner Dick Mitchell, now retired and living in Maine, says he loved the venue and the local vibe in Laconia, adding that it saddens him to see so many musicians looking for local gigs.
Despite the loss of Pitman’s, Halperin insists he’s upbeat about the lakeside city,
The famous Laconia Motorcycle Week will celebrate 99 years of riding legacy from June 11-19.
believing that “arts can be the driving force to let people know that Laconia is a city on the rise,” he says.
“I think there will be continued investment in fixing up the buildings that need some TLC and more cool new businesses coming in,” Halperin continues. “We need a bookstore, we need more restaurants that are open for dinner — right now many are only breakfast and lunch places. The city needs to solve the ongoing parking garage problems once and for all, but after that’s solved, the city should continue to attract people downtown.”
Likewise, Lally says he’s witnessed “a pace of development [in Laconia since 2020] that I’ve never seen before in any of the communities in which we operate.”
He adds that, during that relatively short time, “three new restaurants have opened within 100 feet of the theater, the coffee shop across the street has doubled its footprint, new condos have been built above the theater, a community partnership has come together to create an amazing resident theater company that now calls the Colonial Theatre home, and two other performance centers have opened in Laconia,” he says.
“A list like that typically takes five to seven years, and I’ve seen it all spring up in less than two,” says Lally. “Word is traveling fast about the exciting happenings in downtown Laconia.” ➔
DOVER
To the east, just a few miles from the eclectic downtown of Portsmouth — generally considered one of the richest cultural veins in the Granite State, where The Music Hall and the new Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club on Congress Street are big draws — the city of Dover is shedding its reputation as simply a suburb of the University of New Hampshire.
A high school classmate of mine, Ellen Cooke, has called Dover home since 1991, lured by the more reasonable housing coasts and relatively easy access to the seacoast. In the intervening three decades, the Garrison City as gone through a sea change.
“Dover has changed in similar ways as many New Hampshire communities,” says Cooke, adding that some older residents “lament the increase in cost — real estate, taxes, etcetera — as development reflects opportunities for people who can afford pricey condos and mega-mansions. Personally, I think Dover has done a decent job in managing growth,” adds Cooke.
More and more, however, the city is standing on its own laurels.
“Dover is unique in that, while the New Hampshire population is aging, the average age of our residents is trending younger,” says Margaret Joyce, president of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce. “This is due, in part, to our proximity to the University of New Hampshire, our varied housing options, and our walkable downtown dotted with a wide range of restaurants and retailers. In addition to an influx of new dining options, many businesses have made the decision to call Dover home in recent years.”
Joyce points out that having an Amtrak Downeaster train stop situated in the heart of Dover’s downtown gives commuters “an easy and affordable trip to Boston or Portland, and day-trippers find themselves in the heart of the action with no need for a rental car or ride-sharing service.”
And there’s plenty to explore in Dover’s
Dover’s annual events, like Apple Harvest Day, bring together the community in a celebration of history, food, arts and music.
center, which was literally built around the Cocheco River. Start with a bustling PHOTO BY restaurant scene, “with new restaurants such as Stalk and Sassy Biscuit rubbing shoulders with perennial favorites such as Blue Latitudes and Patty B’s,” says Joyce.
Cooke agrees. “My favorite sit-downfor-a-real-meal [place] is Chapel + Main,” she says. “Good food, and they brew good beer. La Festa has the best pizza, and a good selection of draft beer. During Covid, we got a delivery from Smutlabs — comfort food and growlers — that earned our loyalty.”
The Strand theater hosts a variety of shows, from dance parties and tribute bands to comedians and hypnotists. Community events, such as the Cochecho Arts Festival and Apple Harvest Day, entice visitors from throughout the region to the downtown to enjoy free outdoor entertainment by local artists (check out The Art Center on Washington Street). The Cocheco Academy of the Arts, a public charter high school, situated at the Seymour Osman Community Center, is sowing the seeds of the next generation of artists, while the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire — recently relocated from Portsmouth, of all places — is superb, as is the nearby playground.
This year, Dover, the first permanent settlement in New Hampshire, will mark its 400th anniversary. An ad hoc committee, says Joyce, is planning a number of celebrations throughout the year to mark the milestone. That seems to be the ideal way to recognize a city on the rise. NH I n 2016, Tuscan Brands acquired the 170-acre property formerly known as Rockingham Park with the vision of transforming it into a 3.8-million-square-foot mixed-use superregional destination. Five years later, the development has opened two phases and now includes 1,200 luxury residences and nationally known brands such as Mass General Brigham, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Arhaus, Nike and more. The vision of Joe Faro, Tuscan Brands founder, has come to life as a destination where people can live, work, stay and play.
Tuscan Village in Salem is a one-of-a-kind community with its 80,000-square-foot Market Basket grocery store, L.L.Bean, luxury apartments and more, but it is about to get even better.
Granite Staters and visiting travelers have been able to enjoy the opening of retailers like Smuttynose Brewery, Ulta, Old Navy and more, and Tuscan Village is celebrating this phase two opening with a grand opening celebration during Memorial Day weekend. This summer, sun chasers and craft beer aficionados can enjoy the Smuttynose Beer Garden, complete with lawn games, fire pits, picnic tables, live music and rotating food trucks.
Top: Seating on the patio in the early evening. Above, left to right: The dining hall inside Tuscan Market provides casual seating. Outdoor seating is available for dining and drinks. Lawn games like volleyball and cornhole are fun for kids and adults alike, and there’s a growing list of high-end retail options.
