Portsmouth NH Hosts Tenth Keeping History Above Water® Conference
May 7-9, 2023 for Portsmouth NH 400th Anniversary
Adapting to Change: How Portland, Maine, Is Dealing with Sea Level Rise, Preserving History will be presented by Greater Portland Landmarks & the Gulf of Maine Research Institute on Tuesday, May 9.
During the record-breaking December holiday storm, the historic seaport city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire saw clear evidence of the threat that sea level rise holds for its most historic neighborhoods and businesses with a 14-foot tide flooding waterfront streets and buildings. In May 2023, as part of the city’s 400th anniversary commemorations, Portsmouth hosts the 10th national Keeping History Above Water® conference to examine how cities, neighborhoods, preservationists and engineers are partnering to preserve resources from flooding. A key case study will look at the collaborative steps the City of Portsmouth, Strawbery Banke Museum and the University of New Hampshire are taking to address sea level rise.
Keeping History Above Water® (KHAW) was founded in 2016 by the Newport Restoration Foundation to foster a national conversation focused on the increasing and varied risks posed by sea-level rise to historic coastal communities. KHAW® programs, conferences, and workshops focus on protecting historic buildings, landscapes, and neighborhoods from the increasing threat of inundation. Since the inaugural conference in Newport, KHAW® events have been hosted in Annapolis, Palo Alto, Des Moines, St. Augustine, Nantucket, Charleston, Salem, and Norfolk.
“Water Has a Memory: Preserving Historic Port Cities from Sea Level Rise” (KHAW: Portsmouth 2023), May 7 to 9 includes both speaker sessions at the headquarters AC Hotel downtown and site visits to examine the challenges from land and sea.