Portsmouth VFW eyes South Meeting House for club, housing. Neighbors are 'against this'

PORTSMOUTH — Leaders of Portsmouth’s VFW Post 168 have expressed interest in leasing the former South Meeting House from the city for a new headquarters and club.

The VFW has offered to pay the city as much as $500,000 to bring the historic building at 280 Marcy St. up to code in exchange for a 17-year lease of the property, and its associated parking, according to a letter from Commander Josh Denton and Senior Vice Commander Jonathan Day.

Denton, who is a city councilor, recused himself from any discussion or votes on the issue during this week’s City Council meeting.

If the VFW reaches a deal with the city, it intends to use the property in the city’s South End as a “meeting location, office and private club,” they said in the letter. But they also want any license agreement reached with the city “to allow us the opportunity to do affordable housing for veterans at the location as well,” states the VFW’s letter of interest to City Manager Karen Conard.

Affordable housing for vets a significant need

In an interview Wednesday, Denton, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, said “it would be amazing” if the VFW were able to lease the property from the city.

That would be particularly true, Denton said, if the VFW “was able to help contribute something to veterans to address the affordable housing crisis in the city.”

He noted that there is currently a 40-person waiting list for veterans seeking housing from the Portsmouth Housing Authority, which provides subsidized housing in the city.

“It’s something Portsmouth would greatly benefit from,” Denton added.

The VFW could potentially put two of three apartments on the second floor, he said.

He’s been working on the idea “to do two things at once” with Day, an Air Force veteran who also served in Iraq, Denton said.

He noted too that if approved the VFW would be one of several nonprofits leasing from the city, including The Players' Ring theater.

The prospect of leasing the building is “super exciting, and I think the prospect of any nonprofit going there would be great,” Denton said.

“Portsmouth desperately needs affordable housing” and being able to “help just one or two veterans coming home from service would make the whole thing worthwhile,” he said.

Denton acknowledged the VFW sending its letter of intent to the city marks just “the start of the process.”

The VFW sold its former headquarters at the corner of Deer and Bridge streets in 2018, and has been looking for a new location since. It has been unable to find a new building that works, especially with the desire to add at least a couple of veteran housing units, Denton said.

He recalled returning to Portsmouth after serving in Iraq in 2007 and having to wait tables to be able to afford housing.

“It would have changed my life,” if the type of veteran units the VFW is seeking to create had existed then, he said.

VFW's $500,000 proposal

Denton and Day first met with Conard earlier this year about their idea, he said.

Instead of paying rent, they suggested they could “write a check to the city for $500,000” from the proceeds of the sale of their former building, Denton said.

“That $500,000 is the amount of improvements it would need to bring it up to code,” Denton said. “It’s a significant amount of work.”

He acknowledged the VFW might have to raise additional monies to complete the housing units as “the second phase of the project.”

South Meeting House won't have a bar, Denton says

The former South Meeting House site was most recently home to Portsmouth Public Media TV, which recently moved out, and before that, the Children’s Museum, which moved to Dover years ago.

Denton stressed that the VFW will not open a bar, which is called “a canteen” by veteran organizations, or a restaurant on site.

“There’s not going to be a late night bar there, there’s no sale of alcohol or food being proposed on site,” he said. “We’re looking for a place to meet, where members can go and play pool, relax or watch a movie."

Like other private clubs in Portsmouth, he believes VFW members will be able to bring alcohol there if they want.

“There will be a key card system,” Denton said.

Neighborhood opposition in Portsmouth's South End

Several residents attended this week’s council meeting to raise concerns about the VFW proposal.

Manning Street resident Chris Brodeur said we “want to make sure this isn’t railroaded through and there’s proper review and that abutters get an opportunity to speak against this.

“We are in fact against this,” said Brodeur, a veteran himself.

Marcy Street resident Jeff Dorow said his son served in the Army and recently spent some time in an intensive care unit because of injuries he suffered.

He stressed that he respects the VFW and all veterans who served.

“I do know that VFWs are open late at night, the South Meeting House, which is surrounded by streets that only one car can drive by, you can’t have two-way traffic,” he said. “It is historic, it is a family neighborhood and it is absolutely the wrong place for a VFW to be.”

Portsmouth North End construction boom: Condos, micro units and more, all at once

Portsmouth leaders say other nonprofits would get chance to make bids

During Monday night’s council meeting, City Councilor John Tabor made a motion to send the letter from Denton and Day “to the city manager for a report back on the process for which the city would consider lease or sale of the property.”

Conard stated a sale or lease of the property would be “a universal process,” meaning other nonprofits can express interest in the property.

The council voted unanimously to approve the motion.

City Councilor Kate Cook said “it’s really important that we include and make sure that the neighbors are informed of any process moving forward.”

She lives near the former Meeting House and said “it’s a very sensitive subject in the neighborhood.”

“Over the last year I’ve heard from numerous neighbors about this building and the need to improve its current status as far as upkeep and also to consider neighborhood appropriate usage for the building,” Cook said.

City Councilor Vince Lombardi said he’s “heard from a couple of nonprofits who might be interested in that space” too.

Mayor Deaglan McEachern added the ongoing process “won’t be directed to the VFW.”

“Having a large military history, it would be great to see them there, but I know that that process can only happen if … we could satisfy the neighbors in the larger process,” he said.

Before the unanimous vote, Cook also noted “neighbors have very eagerly reclaimed parking spots that used to be occupied by (Portsmouth Public Media TV) because there is a shortage of parking in the neighborhood.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth VFW eyes South Meeting House for club, housing