Press Releases/What’s New

The City of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Arts & Nonprofits Committee joined the national Americans for the Arts (AFTA) Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) survey between December 2022 and April 2023 and is planning two workshops to share the results in detail. AFTA Vice President of Research Randy Cohen and local arts and business leaders presents The Arts Mean Business Breakfast on January 11 and Data For Impact Workshop on January 12.

The City of Portsmouth’s newly-established Public Art Review Committee (PARC) is pleased to announce the launch of the process to plan for, create, and install a signature work of art on City property at Peirce Island using funding from the City’s Percent-for-Art program.

Beginning January 3, 2024, the main entrance of the Hanover Parking Garage on Hanover Street will be closed until early April for construction as part of the overall garage renovation project. Fleet Street will be the primary entrance and exit during this phase of renovation. Please note that there may be longer than normal exit times.

Included in the main entrance work are access and efficiency improvements to the exit lanes, new payment software and equipment, and new pay-on-foot kiosks like those at the Foundry Place Garage.

The City of Portsmouth is delighted to announce that the new Skate Park on Route 33 is substantially complete, and the public is now welcome to enjoy the latest recreational facility. The contractor will be removing construction-site fencing in the next few days. A formal ribbon-cutting and Grand Opening ceremony is anticipated in Spring 2024.

Once again the Citywide Neighborhood Committee Holiday Lights Contest received enthusiastic support, with 34 Portsmouth residents participating. Mayor Deaglan McEachern announced the winners at the December 18, 2023 City Council meeting.

The top three winners are:

Pro Portsmouth’s First Night™ 2024 taks place on Sunday, December 31, 2023 from 3 to 8 pm and includes ice sculpting in Market Square and a fireworks show at 7:30 pm at South Mill Pond.

The City of Portsmouth invites the public to attend the Inauguration for the Portsmouth City Council, Police Commission, Fire Commission and School Board to be held in Eileen Dondero Foley Council Chambers at City Hall on Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 7 pm.

The Inauguration program will include the National Anthem sung by the Portsmouth High School Singers, the posting of colors by the Portsmouth Police and Fire Department Honor Guards, and an invocation by Reverend Jennifer Mazur of North Church.

As is their annual holiday tradition, the City’s Welfare Office is collecting gift cards for families who have older kids that are not typically served by other gift donation programs in the City.

On a providentially mild November afternoon the City of Portsmouth returned fragments of remains thought to date to between 1820 and 1950 to North Cemetery. Their gravesites had been discovered when the wall bordering the Maplewood Avenue site of the cemetery was being rebuilt. The sites were not marked and work stopped immediately when the graves were disturbed.