Local News (such as recent Nashua area commercial developments since 2000 and other events):
- Note about links and lack of: The Telegraph revamped their website late 2003 and all links to their articles from previous years are simply gone as a result of this "improvement".
- Jan 2, 2005: Doggie heaven at Mine Falls Park every Sunday 9-11am (at end of Whipple St over the canal bridge).
- June 2, 2004: Annual Taste of Downtown Nashua 2004. Sponsor: Great American Downtown
- June 5 - Aug 28, 2004: Nashua summer program at Greeley Park
- June 11-13, 2004: 2nd Annual Rock'n Rib Fest
- June 25-27, 2004: 2004 Annual High Hopes Balloon Festival (Milford; more High Hopes events)
- July 30, 2004: Merrimack 12-screen Cinemagic theater
opened at exit 11
on Everett Tpke!
- Latest News for Nashua
- City of Nashua Budget: FY2004 - few highlights: capital improvements:
671-34 community develop - downtown master plan $250k turned down
651-35 school route sidewalk improvement $1.34m turned down
611-03 city-wide fiber optics $800k turned down
652-17 inner city playgrounds $100k turned down
681-25 elm st school renovations $550k turned down
699-36 expendable trust fund - affordable housing $100k turned down
675-07 library front door replacement and lobby reconfiguration $150k OK'd
699-07 pennichuck water system acquisition study $125k OK'd
651-36 sidewalks $1.7M requested, $300k OK'd
???-?? Downtown revitalization (700ft Goodale's to Margaritas riverwalk) $1.1m OK'd 7/13/04 (nothing in the Telegraph about this as of 7/18!)
- Annual Nashua Greek Food Fest (at St Philip Greek Orthodox Church): 2003 May 16-17, 2004 May 14-15, 2005 May 13-14.
- Broad St:
Convenience store plan gains OKs near Hollis Crossing;
73-single family homeson 37 rolling acres will be build at 523, 525 and 591 Broad St by the Mile High RE into a project called Majestic Heights. As of May 2004, the project completed a few homes and has many more to go. In July 2004, Nashua Planning Board approved demolition of Red Barn Store by its owner, 523 Broad Street LLC (see also Dec '03 and Sep '03 Planning Board minutes).
- Pennichuck & the water district saga
- Merrimack Forum
- Poulin
Family donates land to Audubon(79 acres off Farley Road in Nashua)
- Nashua Landfill Closure: NH DES Priority List for Landfill CLosures (PDF/FY03)
-
Lowell-Nashua Commuter Rail Project
:
Trucking group could derail commuter trains (4/02);
Rail close to finalization(9/02);
Railroad project hits snag(10/02);
Wieczorek denies interest conflict in Nashua rail station vote (11/02); Catching the train (12/02: Chelmsford might get Lowell line extension independent of Nashua); Lowell-to-Nashua rail link in jeopardy (12/02);
Crumbling Funds / Easy dollars for Legislature (3/03); railroad.net forum;
Mayoral candidate [Paula Johnson] against gas tax for rail (7/03);
Bolton: City shouldn't wait on rail lawsuit (7/03);
NH Supreme Court case
03-0641:
New Hampshire Motor Transport Association (PFBP&H) vs State of NH
(oral arguments on 20040211);
20040218: Rail finance bill may be sent to study; Amicus Briefs in case 2003-0641: AGC-NH, State of NH, CLF, City of Nashua, NRPC. NH Legislature: 2004-SB446 (interim study for park and ride multi-modal facility in the city of Nashua at Daniel Webster Hwy and Spit Brook Rd). NH Supreme Court ruled on Apr 19, 2004 that highway taxes can't be used for the commuter rail. Duhhh! Here is the raw court opinion:
The questions of law presented are: (1) whether Part II, Article 6-a of the State Constitution prohibits expenditures of highway funds on some or all of the components of the Rail Project; and (2) whether funds collected pursuant to Part II, Article 6-a may be properly expended by the State on public transit projects. We hold that expending Part II, Article 6-a highway funds for the Rail Project is unconstitutional. To the extent that the second question encompasses public transit projects beyond the Rail Project, we decline to answer it because the factual record before us is insufficient.
20040527: Bass withdraws support for commuter rail grant
20041103: Nashua RPC Transit Oriented Development (TOD) presentation to Nashua Board of aldermen (by creating a tax-increment finance district around the rail station)
20041214: Nashua Board of Aldermen voted 14-1 to support the special finance district plan
-
Claremont
:
The sad legacy of Claremont II (Nashua Telegraph Dec 22 2002 editorial) |
Claremont reports (NHPR) |
NH Supreme Court: 92-711 (Dec 93),
97-001 (Dec 97,
Nov 98,
Dec 99,
Oct 99,
Apr 02) |
Mainstream (and a lot more). Recent school funding news: New school aid bill may face legal hurdles (May 24, '04), School funding bill OK’d (May 26, '04)
, New funding law hatched in secrecy (May 30, '04)
, 20040525: Nashua joins Coalition for Adequate Education Funding
- Nashua history and drama: Meeting of the Mayors (Jan 12, '03)
-
Broad Street Parkway design trashed (Jan 9, '03);
Advisers share ideas to lessen area traffic (July 24, '03);
Broad+Street+Parkway
- Soucy's Market closed some time spring or summer 2003. Good riddance. The place was badly kept and I also heard some bad things about pricing manipulations on pay days.
- Northeastern Blvd: a new 30,000 ft2 office building is going up across from the Northbridge Business Center in front of the World Gym
-
Nashua's Sesquicentennial:
Nashua festival will celebrate ethnic diversity
- Nashua's new trash pickup service: City rolls out new robotic trash pickup (Aug 19, 2003)
- Unmade in New Hampshire (Aug 2003):
Companies struggle to keep jobs here,
Federal program offers help, support,
Shifting markets contribute to loss of local jobs,
Hard road for workers,
Shop toughing it out,
Skills seen as key to creating strong manufacturing sector,
Industry has been a way of life in N.H., op-ed:
Loss of manufacturing needs urgent attention
- 20040101: Several left lasting impressions on area
- Notes from a Nashua Native (04/08/2004)
Business Development:
- HoJo (ex.5) closed,
Porsche/Audi car dealership opened Oct '02 (where HoJo used to be). Animal Hospital behind it, is adding a wing bigger than the current facility (summer '04).
-
Nashua Mall (ex.6) was redeveloped by Vickerry Realty Trust (which went to the NH Supreme Court for a Nashua property tax abatement issue, case 01-330): Bradlee's closed down; additions: Kohl's (
opened 4/2002) and Home Depot (opened July 25th, 2002); Christmas Tree Shops (opened Labor Day Weekend 2002).
Hoyts Cinema closed its Nashua Mall branch (March 2003). Further development/closings are
in progress: Friendly's already closed and a 190x90ft building will be built along Coliseum Ave.
Wendy's opened Dec 2003 were the Hoyts cinema was. Bank of NH also opened there Spring 2004. New construction for a two-level steel structure is taking place right between Wendy's and Bank of NH as of mid-June '04.
-
Globe Plaza lost the Brandt movie theater (the last second run cinema in Nashua) and the other Nashua Bradlee's in 2001, but got an AJ Wright store in 2002 and Bank of NH opened a small branch there. Shaw's opened a new branch April 2003. BK also opened there sometime in 2003.
-
Downtown:
Siberia, a Russian and international foods store opened Nov 2002 at corner of Kingsley and Main St. Citizens Bank rebuild their branch across from City Hall (2003-2004). The gas station North of Southern NH Medical Center between Kingsley and Hollis on the East side of Main St, was torn down and the foundation of something new is in the works (May '04).
- Right North of Hayward's Icecream, in front of Rivier College, the intersection got a major makeover: another roundabout that looks complete as of 5/04 (I'm guessing that project cost close to $1M while potholes abound elsewhere in Nashua). North of this intersection, all the way to Globe Plaza, the Main St sidewalk was repaired also (in 2003).
- Across DW Hwy from Pheasant Mall (295 DW Hwy): Indian Village closed late Fall 2003, and Mehmaan Restaurant opened early Jan 2004 (about the 7th), right next to Dar Groceries (Indian groceries). Woodworkers Warehouse Outlet closed down at end of 2003 since the parent company filed chapter 11 early Dec 2003.
- Rich's closed down in 1997, Montgomery Ward closed down in 2001 and as of Aug 2002, Ames is closing down
-
Old Navy
opened early 2002 right at intersection of DW Hwy and Spit Brook Rd. Applebee's opened behind BK (next to Old Navy) May '04. Across from it, Bernie and Phyl's furniture store built a 4-story steel addition (opened fall 2002) and erased the old main structure last year, extending their 4-story yellow box as close as 15ft to DW Hwy (zoning override?). Summer 2002,
Hooters openedright next to it. Global Flavors (Indian groceries) opened next to Pizzico (2003?).
Applebee's is building behind Burger King (1/04).
- Royal Ridge Plaza: Panera Bread opened summer 2002. Zany Brainy closed Feb 2003.
- Goodwill Industries of Northern New England: closed retail store downtown Nashua early spring 2003 and the second store on Amherst St (next to Lilac Blossom) in April 2003 at the same time with the Merrimack and Manchester retail store closings.
- Nashua [South] High School is adding an indoor sports complex and basically rebuilding the full complex under the guise of renovation (watch the property tax hike and the city budget for clues).
- First day of school at the
newly builtNashua North HS is Sept 3, 2002. In the process of enlarging the access road to the new high school, the road (Chuck Druding Dr), Coburn Ave and Broad St were connected by a brand spanking new roundabout.
-
Rt 101A:
@ Continental Blvd: Home Depot opened in 2001, Pizza Hut and Dunkin Donuts opened in 2002 right next to it, Talarico almost completed their Merrimack dealership rennovation.
98 Restaurant , a Chinese takeout place, opened summer 2002;
Casablanca Moroccan Restaurant(has it opened yet?);
Time-Less Diner (Amherst, opened spring 2002).
- Best Ford car dealership opened in 2002 on Amherst St.
Target opened July 27, 2003 right across the street from Best Ford.
TJ Maxx and Panera Bread opened late Summer and late Fall in the same plaza. North of Best Ford, Pizzeria Uno opened late April 2004.
20040114: Deal nets TJMaxx, Panera buildings. Some steak restaurant opened right on the main road in the same plaza in the Summer.
- Across from Building 19: Electronic Planet closed down sometime 2001. In the strip mall just South of it, Palika Bazar (Indian groceries) opened sometime in 2003. All Things Sicilian also opened in 2003.
- South of NH Tech College: India Palace of Manchester opened a small restaurant Dec 2003 in Nashua.
- AT&T Broadband started adding cable modem access late 2000 and is still going at it
-
Conway Arena Indoor ice rink near Stellos Stadiumwas built and
opened Sept 2003(more about opening;
5/02 talks resulted in a business proposal and a rezoning occurred also to accomodate it); a sidewalk on the North side of W Hollis St, West of Riverside St was added connecting it with the sidewalk in front of the clinic (Aug. 2002);
groundbreaking for the ice rink started 10/22/02; Dream of Nashua hockey rink becoming a reality (10/31/02);
Ground breaking started at Conway Ice Center(12/02);
Conway Ice Center received $100k donation; Conway Ice Center main building structure was up 4/03.
- Across from Fotene's Market on West Hollis St, Gateway Homes LLC and AMP Properties LLC are building about half a dozen homes on Mandinbarb Circle just East of the cemetery and West of Settlement Way (started summer 2002 and still going as of Spring 2003).
