FAQs

The Gasholder is a defining feature of the Concord, New Hampshire skyline, welcoming everyone into the city. A large cylindrical brick building with a conical roof and tilted cupola, it’s as recognizable as the gold dome of the New Hampshire State House.

There are fewer than a dozen of these gasholders across the country and there’s none other that has all of its inner workings in place. Saving and repurposing our Gasholder will save an anchor of Concord’s South End and serve as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization at the city’s southern gateway. It will connect Concord’s industrial past with a new vision for the future. The building is authentic and local, built by hand in 1888 from New England timber, bricks, and slate. The gas it stored powered Concord’s streetlamps, homes, and industry for decades. Generations of families worked at the Gasholder or the many businesses it served. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it’s also recognized internationally for its unique qualities.

Just as important, a restored and weather-tight Gasholder serves as an effective cap on any environmental contamination underneath. When property owner Liberty proposed demolition in 2020, the N.H. Preservation Alliance, Liberty, and the City of Concord formed a partnership to seek better alternatives. This joint effort is helping Liberty minimize the financial impact on ratepayers while meeting N.H. Department of Environmental Services remediation requirements.

Take action to get more involved!

We envision the Gasholder having a dramatic impact on the revitalization of Concord’s southern gateway. The N.H. Preservation Alliance is working to identify potential redevelopment partners and find a creative new use for the 2-acre former industrial site. Check out Envisioning the Gasholder's Future for ideas from around the country.

After more than a year of intensive planning and seven months of complex engineering and preservation work, the partners completed Emergency Stabilization work in the fall of 2022. Specialized crews prevented the Gasholder’s collapse by erecting interior structural towers to support the compromised roof, installing exterior cabling, and patching the huge, conical slate roof. Here’s the latest news coverage.

We’re aware of credible attempts over the years to find a creative and sustainable re-use for the property. We’re evaluating those earlier efforts as well as exploring new ideas and current market realities. We understand that property owner Liberty would welcome the acquisition of the property by a desirable redeveloper. Email us at projects@nhpreservation.org if you have leads or suggestions.

The Gasholder is ready for the next phase of work – and a new future.

From 1888 to 1952, the Gasholder stored gas that was piped throughout the city for lighting, heating, cooking, and industrial use. But what stopped the gas from escaping through the windows and cupola? The secret is the innovative mechanisms inside, believed to be the last remaining in the country. Explore the gallery on our History page.

The round brick building we see is called the “gasholder house.” Its main job is to keep out the weather. Inside the gasholder house is a giant 80,000-pound metal bell floating open end down in an underground masonry water tank, as deep as the brick walls are high.

When the Gasholder was active, workers would produce gas by heating coal in an on-site industrial furnace. They’d pipe the gas underground through the south side of the water tank and up into the bell. The bell would slowly fill with gas, causing it to float up inside the gasholder house where you could see it through the windows. The water in the underground tank created a seal around the open end of the bell, preventing gas from escaping.

The immense weight of the bell would pressurize the gas inside it. Workers would open a valve on the west side of the gasholder house to deliver gas through miles of pipes to customers across the city.

Saving our Gasholder and creating its future is a community endeavor. Your support is vital! Here are some ways to get involved. Contact information is below.

• Sign up for our e-newsletter.

• Explore this website and share your excitement with a friend.

• Ask us for a Save Our Gasholder yard sign and display it at your home or business.

• Volunteer to help at a Save Our Gasholder event.

• Send your ideas and questions to the N.H. Preservation Alliance.

• Donate to the Save Our Gasholder campaign.

Contact us anytime by phone at 603-224-2281 or email at projects@nhpreservation.org.

The N.H. Preservation Alliance assembled a team of nationally recognized experts to design, engineer and carry out the Emergency Stabilization work, in collaboration with property owner Liberty and the City of Concord. The project team was comprised of specialists in work on historic properties:

• The N.H. Preservation Alliance and an LLC of community members oversaw the development and execution of various aspects of the project.

• John Wathne, Founder-Principal of Structures North Consulting Engineers, was responsible for engineering design and monitoring. A nationally recognized expert in evaluating, stabilizing, and restoring historic structures, John enjoys saving structures for their historic, architectural, and social/cultural significance, and inventing new ways to do so.

• Tom Evarts’s crew at Yankee Steeplejack Company of Harvard, Mass., performed most of the Emergency Stabilization work with help from New England Scaffolding. Initially established to restore church steeples throughout New England and New York, YSC is a full-service restoration and construction contractor.

• Frank Lemay, President of Milestone Engineering & Construction, served as construction manager and advisor. Milestone has managed many preservation projects including the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, Chandler House in Manchester, and North Church in Portsmouth.

• Michael Bruss of Bruss Project Management served as the project representative for the Preservation Alliance. He brought decades of construction management experience to this role.

No. The Gasholder and its accompanying two acres are listed in the National Register of Historic Places (thanks to the Concord Heritage Commission) and may well be worthy of (even higher) National Historic Landmark status. However, neither designation prohibits demolition, although they do afford recognition and access to some resources. Similarly, Concord’s demolition delay ordinance would allow time to explore alternatives to demolition but would not prevent it.

The N.H. Preservation Alliance, Liberty, and the City of Concord have partnered in an effort to avoid demolition, share the costs of initial stabilization, and proceed toward full preservation. This is a complicated, long-range project with many obstacles, but we’re making progress by generating public support from people like you.

The Concord, NH Gasholder was taken out of service in 1952 when then-owner Concord Gas Company switched from manufactured gas to natural gas. Current and past owners have addressed many aspects of environmental remediation. Further study will likely be required to fully assess clean-up and management needs depending on how the property is redeveloped.

Manufacturing gas from coal and storing it in an underground tank was state-of-the-art energy production back in 1888 when the Gasholder was built. Freight trains delivered coal directly to the site where it was heated in an industrial oven to produce gas in a process called “destructive distillation.” Later, the gas’s illuminating power was increased by adding steam and oil to the process, creating “carbureted water gas.” Learn more in this video. Experts now know that this kind of activity results in environmental contamination that was not contained or addressed when the gas plant was active.

Fortunately, a stabilized and weather-tight Gasholder is expected to serve as a highly effective cap on any environmental contamination that remains underneath it from the 1888 - 1952 period of active use. By bringing our historic preservation expertise to the table, the N.H. Preservation Alliance is offering property owner Liberty an economical alternative to demolition and costly remediation. We’re helping Liberty minimize the financial impact on ratepayers, meet N.H. Department of Environmental Services remediation requirements, and save an irreplaceable historic resource.

The N.H. Preservation Alliance has hosted public forums, helped support redevelopment analysis and nominated the building for national Most Endangered status and a federal historic preservation grant. The Preservation Alliance is very grateful to an anonymous donor's tremendous $500,000 pledge and other support from individuals, businesses, N.H. Community Development Finance Authority and foundations. This support has helped save the landmark from demolition and move this project forward. The Preservation Alliance and Liberty split the cost of the Emergency Stabilization, and Liberty has pledged additional support. The Emergency Stabilization work helps Liberty meet state environmental remediation requirements by making the Gasholder an effective cap on the contamination below it.

Substantial additional resources will be needed to achieve preservation and community goals. The availability of private capital and financing as well as public sector funds depends on the property’s ownership and use. Preservation grant monies and tax incentives could be available if certain preservation standards are met. Public infrastructure improvements and downtown tax relief programs are ways the City of Concord has helped similar properties in the past. Private fundraising has also been considered as a possible way to fill gaps.

Donate to Save Our Gasholder