1. Liberty Utilities committed $2.4 million to preserve and revitalize the 2-acre Concord Gasholder after previously developing plans to demolish the structure. Liberty formed a partnership with the NH Preservation Alliance and the City of Concord to repurpose the gasworks site after a grassroots campaign took shape urging Liberty to save the building. The Gasholder, built in 1888, formerly stored gas for streetlamps, homes and factories and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Liberty acquired the site in 2012.
2. Salem-area legislative leaders shared matters pending in NH state government and answered questions on Jan. 26 during the 2024 Concord Update, hosted by the Southern NH Chamber of Commerce at Campbell’s Scottish Highlands Golf Course in Salem. State representatives from six communities of the Southern NH chamber responded to moderated questions from an audience.
3. Merrimack County Savings Bank, known as The Merrimack, is supporting The Friendly Kitchen’s 1,000-square-foot expansion. The Friendly Kitchen is the city’s only soup kitchen, and the expansion project aims to provide volunteers more room to prepare meals and grow the Family Friendly Meals Program.
4. Employees of the charitable gaming company New Hampshire Group, pictured, volunteered at the nonprofit Boys & Girls Club of Manchester recently as a service project. The employees began by touring the nonprofit’s facility, then cleaned buses that transport children to and from school and field trips. The volunteer effort follows $9 million collectively donated by the company’s properties to area nonprofits around the state in 2023.
5. Capital Group Properties of Southborough, Massachusetts, has purchased the 10.45-acre Merrimack Village Center property, which features a shopping center with 98% tenant occupancy anchored by Shaw’s. The property group bought the center from Newton, Massachusetts-based Crosspoint Associates for $16.6 million. This is the property group’s first such purchase in the Granite State.
6. Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais participated in a ride-along opportunity Jan. 29 with the city fire department’s specialized Squad 1 unit as they responded to calls throughout the city. Ruais aimed to get a firsthand experience of the challenges faced by first responders and see how the department and other offices are providing outreach to those facing substance use disorder, mental crises and homelessness. Squad 1, formed in May 2020, operates from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week and handles outreach, lower-urgency medical emergencies, and interventional services for substance use and general community risk reduction.
7. The Southern NH Chamber of Commerce and developer Elm Grove Companies held a ribbon cutting on Jan. 19 for the completion of the Depot & Main apartments in Salem. The project, at 41 Main St., is a 74-unit workforce housing community supported by low-income housing tax credits. With studio and one- and two-bedroom units, each apartment includes new appliances, flooring, paint, kitchens, baths and energy-efficient windows and insulation. The community is already over 50% leased.
