CLAREMONT — When Nancy Merrill went to work at the city’s Planning and Development Department on North Street in 2004 as director of business development, she saw the challenges ahead just outside the office.
“There was debris everywhere I looked,” Merrill said. “The green space next to the visitor center was reduced to rubble. Across the (Sugar) River, a factory building had collapsed.”
Downtown, the Brown and Farwell blocks are in need of repairs, the roof of the nearby Sawtooth Building on Main Street is collapsing, and there is no prospect of renovating the vacant former restaurant next to City Hall. I wasn’t standing.
Twenty years later, the same properties are being given new life, including the Claremont Makerspace, part of Sawtooth. Other parts of the city are also seeing significant business investment, as are the industrial, commercial and retail sectors.
Merrill, who resigned this month, is responsible for everything from selling Claremont developers and future businesses, navigating the complexities of state and federal funding sources and tax credits, and guiding applicants through city permitting requirements and zoning ordinances. contributed to the realization of
“Economic development takes time, but when you put it all together now, it’s been a really great 20 years,” Merrill said.
Merrill, who declined to give his age, was working in real estate in Hanover when he took the job in Claremont, a city of 13,000 people. She grew up in Lebanon, knows its history well, and still lives there.
Merrill served on the Lebanon City Council from 1989 to 1995, and served as mayor for part of that time. Merrill, who is active in Republican politics and co-chaired the late Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaigns in New Hampshire in 2000 and 2008, said his politics have nothing to do with his job in Claremont. said.
“Claremont really struggled for a long time in its decline,” Merrill said, noting that in the late 1990s about 100 homes were demolished when their condition was deemed beyond repair. “There were many parts that were not in good condition.”
Former City Manager Guy Santagate hired Merrill and later promoted her to head the city’s Economic Development Office in 2010. He said she grew in the role and became very good at identifying projects that had the potential to be successfully completed.
“She was involved in every major project we did,” said Santagate, who served as city administrator for 15 years before retiring in 2016. “She was an invaluable asset in terms of getting projects done. Nancy was well known and popular, so this is a real loss for the city. I don’t see how they’re going to replace her.” No.”
Mr. Merrill’s last day was October 18th. The city has not named her replacement.
She said she did not have a resignation letter but was ready for a “new challenge.” “Twenty years is a long time, and I thought it was time,” said Merrill, who was earning $94,400.
Merrill said the city will be able to work more effectively and efficiently with developers and others after the city of Santagate decided to centralize its planning, economic development and building departments in one location at the visitor’s center on North Street. I think it has become.
“We had everything there, and what we always heard from companies was that they liked our setup because we were able to talk to the business side of things like planning, zoning, and building (departments). That’s the thing,” Merrill said. “They were talking to the same group of people from beginning to end.”
Alex Ray, owner and founder of the Common Man Family of Restaurants, is the catalyst for much of what’s happening in and around downtown, Merrill said.
At the time, several early 20th century factory buildings along Water Street were targeted for demolition. Merrill remembers Santagate saying, “We’ve got to find a way to fix those buildings.”
Meryl asked Ray to propose marriage.
“It’s hard to expect anyone to invest when you don’t even have a building appraised and banks are finding empty buildings all over the place,” Merrill said. “It was a really committed effort from him (Ray) and I think we were able to get the ball rolling.”
Common Man Inn, which is also home to Red River Technology and Common Man Restaurant, opened around 2009. The Peterson Building, also on Water Street, was slated to be constructed as condominiums, but the building remained vacant until several years later.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Merrill met with developer Eric Chinberg, who purchased Peterson and built 83 market-rate apartments called Monadnock Mills.
Merrill’s duties and responsibilities are wide-ranging, ranging from providing data such as traffic, demographics, location of other retail stores in the city, and local income, as he did with Running’s on what is now Washington Street. Wide variety. Bring together stakeholders such as landowners, developers, and small businesses.
In addition, she identified grants and tax credits to fund work on Opera House Square, including Farwell Avenue, Brown Avenue, and the recently opened Claremont Creative Center in a space that was a restaurant before it closed for 30 years. , actively worked on applying. before.
Merrill said staying in Claremont for 20 years wasn’t difficult. This is an unusually long lifespan among department heads in the city.
“I joined the company because I loved the job. I loved the people I worked with and the people in the community,” Merrill said. “It was wonderful.”
Merrill hasn’t decided what she will pursue next, but it was clear she was open to new challenges.
“I still have another act to play,” she said.
Contact Patrick O’Grady at pogclmt@gmail.com.
