Portsmouth to Acquire Community Campus

The Foundation for Seacoast Health announced its intent to sell the Community Campus building and surrounding 34 acres to the City of Portsmouth. Following a three-year strategic planning process and a goal to maintain its original vision as a multi-tenant non-profit center, while adding new resources to benefit the community, the Foundation has determined the City to be the ideal buyer to manage the Campus.

Since 1984, the core mission of the Foundation for Seacoast Health has been to promote health and wellness throughout the Seacoast and enrich the lives of citizens through community-based support and services, many of which were made possible with the construction of the Community Campus. The Foundation’s formal mission statement is, “To lead the advancement of a healthy community through initiatives that impact and promote the wellbeing of Seacoast residents.”

Foundation for Seacoast Health CEO, Deb Grabowski, explained the decision to move the purchase and sale process forward with the City. “The Foundation’s Board of Trustees agreed during our lengthy strategic planning process that in order to better serve our mission and return to our roots as a grantmaking organization, it was time to divest ourselves as property managers of the Community Campus. We have explored several options with interested parties and unanimously agree that a sale to the City of Portsmouth will ensure that our legacy to support area non-profits, and the services they provide, will remain accessible to Seacoast area residents. We are thrilled that the City Council is also unanimously in favor of this transaction and view it as ‘an opportunity of a lifetime’ to better serve all members of our community.”

The Foundation has issued several grants, totaling $342,000 over the past eighteen months, many to support those in need throughout the pandemic and is enthusiastic that the result of the sale will enable them to continue to make a positive impact on the lives of Seacoast community residents through increased grantmaking. The Foundation is fine-tuning its grantmaking guidelines and have further intentions to act as facilitators and conveners on important topics and issues that affect the health and wellbeing of area residents.

Tim Durkin, Chair of the Foundation for Seacoast Heath Board of Trustees, said, “We are thrilled with the possibilities this sale will represent for both the Foundation for Seacoast Health and the City of Portsmouth. It’s really a win/win situation for all involved, including our current tenants.”

"The City has made the decision to move forward with a letter of intent with the Foundation for Seacoast Health because of the tremendous potential the Community Campus provides to reinforce the City’s Recreation and School Department programs and facilities,” said City Manager Karen Conard. “The opportunity for the City to acquire such a significant property with a physical connection to the new athletic field and determine the future use of that site could not be more ideal. Securing this location so the City can decide its future is the type of legacy decision that will truly serve as a positive impact for generations to come.”

For more information on the Foundation for Seacoast Health, visit https://www.ffsh.org or call (603) 422.8200.