Mayor Maher: PACE Center opening delayed, city and schools targeting January 2027

Mayor Maher said the Portsmouth Career Advanced Educational (PACE) Center — a joint city and Portsmouth Public Schools project meant to provide career and technical education — has encountered construction and equipment delays and will not open at the start of the coming school year. “Although we're a little bit disappointed about we're not gonna open immediately at the start of the school year, I can assure you everyone is working diligently together to make that opening as soon as possible,” Maher said.

A council member cited a letter sent home by the school system that blamed certain building issues and said several contracts had not been finalized; Maher described the setbacks as a shared responsibility of city and school implementation teams and said engineers and project staff are working to minimize disruptions. He gave a target date for opening as January 2027 but did not provide firm contractual completion documents during the briefing. The mayor emphasized collaboration with the school board and school leadership — including school board chairman Patillo — and pledged continued support for student programming and workforce training at the center.