I'm coming off the high of last night's SAL-A-PALOOZA city council session.
No doubt, the improvements at the Thorndike Factory will be a net positive, in the long run. Free market forces being what they are, especially the ones subsidized by state and federal dollars, there will be some growing pains, as a push pull for customers occurs. Of course, you won't hear "Boo!" out of the mouths of the fawning babes we saw cheer leading Sal's entrepreneurial genius, last night. If Lupoli can draw customers to his location, at the expense of adjacent businesses, that's just tough luck. (Too bad Bernie Lynch is leaving. The shuttered windows could be laid at his feet.) By the way, if you don't think Lupoli will aggressively market pulling businesses and customers to his locale, you haven't been listening to the WCAP infomercial's incessant droning about the 'Kick The Can Cafe / snark' and other Riverwalk tenants.
But, let's look past the immediate discomfort of reshuffling Lowell's small to mid-sized enterprises. It is what it is.
What is Sal's 'end game?' Because, certainly, this Thorndike project is just a gateway.
Ask Dave Nangle what he thinks about the location of the Lowell High School. Observers have noted that Nangle is very keen on moving it from its present location. Options proffered casually by Nangle are, the South Common & the Prince Spaghetti site.
I distinctly recall John MacDonald harping and harping about moving the Lowell High School. Him and George DeLuca. Though, JMac has Sam Poulten's AM kingdom at his disposal. Repeatedly, JMac shoves the Spaghettiville site over the airwaves. I figured he was getting paid by Elkin MacCallum. JMac will say ANYTHING for a buck. Free market forces, and all.
But, Nangle? Why would Nangle shill for moving the High School?
The intersection of Arcand Drive & Father Morrissette Boulevard is, in my humble opinion, about to become ground zero for Lowell's next great phase of "economic development." Pay very, very close attention to who is kissing who's ass.
2 comments:
Suspicions aside, the Thorndike plan makes a lot of sense on its own merits (or its own, plus some help from the State). Mixed use next to a major transportation hub opens up a lot of possibilites, and if they can complement each other it should be a significant success.
As for LHS location, I hope the push for economic development does not swamp the need for a strong educational system, one that is closely linked to the higher education institutions in the city.
And as for the intersection, I expect one of the key tasks for Adam Baacke at UML will be to bring a hotel complex to further the usefulness of the Arena to the Division 1 sports at UML. Whether that crosses French street is another question.
Sal's Thorndike st. project is good for Lowell and will better connect the train station to the HCD. My only concern is walkability to the core downtown. Thorndike and Dutton should be reduced to 3 lanes with the middle lane for turning(like Andover St) to allow for metered on-street parking and encourage more development in that corridor.
Moving Lowell High School to Cawley Stadium or the South Common is wrong on so many levels. Downtown is centrally located for all students. Many kids walk to school and couldn't if located in Belvidere. How long would it take for a kid to take a city bus(not free for students) from Pawtucketville to Cawley? Per OMR Architects it would cost the city at least 45 million more to build an entirely new school. Who wants to pay that? The business community is fond of saying they pay twice the tax rate as residents. I guess it would fall on them .
Lowell 5 complains about traffic problems in the am and from 2-2:30pm. So much so they don't set meetings during those times!!! Has the bank reached out to LHS to help mitigate the purported gridlock? Did Lowell 5 not know LHS was there when they bought the Fred C Church building 5-10 years ago? I'd love for someone to take a dashcam down there to get an accurate portrayal of the situation. By moving LHS to the South Common Lowell 5's relief would now be Sal's burden at a GREAT expense to the tax payer.
I listened to the economic summit on WCAP. Is was basically a 3 hour commercial for moving the high school out of downtown. The only original thought I heard from the in-house panel was valet parking for downtown restaurants. Those guests are GREAT business men in their industries but aren't experts in creating modern, pedestrian friendly, vibrant cities.
There are generally two reasons a government creates an economic development task force: to provide political cover for a tough decision or to kill a project/discussion. It seems to me there's a movement afoot to kill the renovation of LHS in it's current location. I hope I'm wrong.
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