Portsmouth NH District Commission
Portsmouth NH Historic District Commission Meeting
Jennifer Pyke
Kaplan University
Prof. Iymen Chehade September 16, 2014
I chose to watch a historic district commission meeting from the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire from August 13, 2014 because I couldn’t get to anything in person this week and I thought this would be an interesting meeting to listen to since our historical buildings down town are under so much scrutiny all the time. The HDC serves to safeguard the architectural heritage of the Town. Preserve elements of the community’s architectural, cultural, social, economic and political history. Conserve property values. Foster civic pride. Promote the use of the historic districts for the education, pleasure and welfare of the citizens of Portsmouth. It is a seven member commission with 2 alternates.
As I first watched I noticed the room was very simple with grey walls and the state symbol in the back behind the board. Also the state flag and some other flags that I couldn’t tell what they were, were also in the room. At first the board sat in the chairs on the upper level in red cushions and then later in the meeting moved down to a lower table with chairs around it for the work session meetings. Then behind the table were chairs lined up for the public to come and sit down and listen to the meeting and there was a podium that they could come and give their opinion on the topics being discussed. Most of the commissioners were dressed in business casual and one was dressed in a suit. Everyone seemed to be pretty relaxed and ready to get to the job at hand. There was not a lot of public attending I noticed also.
As the meeting started the Chairman in charge Joseph Almeida introduced everyone on the board and then they started the meeting with a recall for a work session to be postponed but was immediately dismissed. Then they called up a woman who was sick from the last week and an assistant had come in to pass the
Jennifer Pyke
Kaplan University
Prof. Iymen Chehade September 16, 2014
I chose to watch a historic district commission meeting from the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire from August 13, 2014 because I couldn’t get to anything in person this week and I thought this would be an interesting meeting to listen to since our historical buildings down town are under so much scrutiny all the time. The HDC serves to safeguard the architectural heritage of the Town. Preserve elements of the community’s architectural, cultural, social, economic and political history. Conserve property values. Foster civic pride. Promote the use of the historic districts for the education, pleasure and welfare of the citizens of Portsmouth. It is a seven member commission with 2 alternates.
As I first watched I noticed the room was very simple with grey walls and the state symbol in the back behind the board. Also the state flag and some other flags that I couldn’t tell what they were, were also in the room. At first the board sat in the chairs on the upper level in red cushions and then later in the meeting moved down to a lower table with chairs around it for the work session meetings. Then behind the table were chairs lined up for the public to come and sit down and listen to the meeting and there was a podium that they could come and give their opinion on the topics being discussed. Most of the commissioners were dressed in business casual and one was dressed in a suit. Everyone seemed to be pretty relaxed and ready to get to the job at hand. There was not a lot of public attending I noticed also.
As the meeting started the Chairman in charge Joseph Almeida introduced everyone on the board and then they started the meeting with a recall for a work session to be postponed but was immediately dismissed. Then they called up a woman who was sick from the last week and an assistant had come in to pass the
References: Historic District Commission 8.13.14. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGczPnWmOeI