InsideLowell has learned that the Healey Administration has reversed course and has ruled out the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center as an emergency migrant shelter.

Sources tell us the official announcement is expected this week, with a state source adding that 1^st Middlesex Senator Ed Kennedy emerged as a key player in the process that will allow Lowell to keep its only downtown hotel.

Kennedy recently toured the facility with the rest of Lowell’s State House delegation and representatives from Middlesex Community College, which is interested in obtaining the facility as part of its Hospitality Program and for use as living quarters for its students. The plan would make MCC the first Community College in the state offering dorm rooms, which is in line with the building’s prior use for UMass Lowell students.

“The Middlesex Community College proposal to establish a hospitality and culinary arts curriculum at the Inn & Conference Center and to continue to operate the facility as a hotel is an exciting long term solution for the Inn & Conference Center that will satisfy the concerns of all of the stakeholders in Lowell,” Senator Kennedy told InsideLowell when reached for comment. “As the only hotel in Downtown Lowell, the Inn & Conference Center is an important component of the Lowell Central Business District and Middlesex Community College is one of the city’s strongest partners. Their proposal provides the best possible outcome for the future and I look forward to continuing to work with the Healey Administration on a long term solution to the overwhelming wave of immigrant families coming to Massachusetts. “

MCC’s announced proposal received support from community leaders, while the Governor’s efforts were met with overwhelming opposition from the business community and many city residents. Attention now turns to whether the college is able to hammer out an agreement to acquire the property that also satisfies the University, which reportedly still has about $25-million in debt service outstanding.