In 2016 I got to tour inside the iconic gasholder building in Concord, a handsome circular brick structure that once held gas made from coal that was used for lighting and heat in the city, in the days before natural gas pipelines showed up here. (Here’s that story, with some awesome photos)
There are a lot of gasholder buildings standing around the world, as wikipedia will tell you, but Concord’s is extremely unusual – probably unique in the U.S. – because it still contains the massive mechanism inside that floated on top of the gas, holding it in place.
From wikipedia: How gas was stored inside a gasholder building, under a floating cap. The building surrounded the entire arrangement.
Unfortunately, the building is slowly falling apart and the owners, Liberty Utilities, say it would cost at least $2 million to make it safe and potentially usable – money they don’t plan to spend because the property is of no use to them. (The Monitor has a story about this development.) City taxpayers are unlikely to want to spend that much, which means that unless some right tech-history fan steps up, this building recently placed on the national Historical Registry may well be torn down.
The iconic gasholder building on South Main Street in Concord, Jan. 2018
Return to the Concord Monitor
There is a state agency that has funds for grants used to purchase conservation land, historic buildings, or renovate/restore historic buildings. I think it’s call CHIP or LCHIP. If this building is as important and unique a structure as you indicate, funds may be made available to begin restoration.
Turn it into a public building used for events and… a theater in the round !
That would be great. Just find 2 or 3 million bucks – maybe more, if it turns out that the ground is contaminated by decades of coal tar and needs more expensive remediation.