Portsmouth Main Street team outlines path to state and national accreditation, citywide focus

Portsmouth’s Main Street team told the City Council on July 28 that the city is progressing through both state and national Main Street milestones and intends its work to be citywide rather than limited to Old Town. Liz Pasqualini, identified in the meeting as the Main Street director, said Portsmouth “skipped that 1st step” and entered the state program as a mobilizing community in January 2025 and expects to apply to advance in October, with national accreditation eligibility to follow.

The presenters said the initiative uses Main Street America’s four‑point approach — economic vitality, design, organization and promotion — and that the city is tracking performance with a new BOOMS (Building Opportunities on Main Street) dashboard. “We’ve logged over 5,000 volunteer hours in our district,” Pasqualini said, noting the team is recording vacancies, parcel condition photos and other property‑level data to inform investment decisions. Presenters emphasized that accreditation would cover the whole city and not only the historic Old Town district, allowing municipal strategies to be exported to other commercial nodes.

Council members asked staff to clarify the geographic boundary of the Main Street district and the extent of lighting upgrades; staff described the district as Effingham to the waterfront with a soft boundary that can flex to include adjacent businesses where investment makes sense. The presentation concluded with the team inviting public engagement through an upcoming ambassador volunteer program and sharing that metrics and branding will be rolled out as part of their public communications.