The ongoing City Council discussions over how to deal with vagrancy issues at South Common and throughout the rest of the city, coupled with political battles over replacing a departed City Councilor and how to elect the Mayor, have managed to relegate the fate of the Smith Baker Center into an afterthought. This, despite the fact the once showcase structure has been a hot-button topic for years and appeared to be coming to a conclusion in early 2024.
However, a little digging into the Thursday announcement by Governor Maura Healey of $161-million in grant funding for Economic Development Projects reveals that saving the historic building is still something the Golden Administration is exploring.
The City of Lowell is slated to receive $1.427-million dollars, spread out over seven projects, through Community One Stop for Growth.
$45,000 of that funding is earmarked for “Real Estate Services Technical Assistance to fund a feasibility analysis to determine if and how a vacant, historic, city-owned property may be reused.”
You’ll recall early in 2024, there was a push by some on the city council to tear down the structure, which many fear is a public safety hazard due to falling slate. Others continued the fight to save the landmark building, with a private citizen even providing InsideLowell drone video examining the entire roof and indicating its condition wasn’t as bad as reported.
The Smith Baker Center study is one of the smaller components from the city’s haul of state funding announced by the Governor’s Office.
RG Realty LLC received $532,000 from the Underutilized Properties Program to convert 635 Middlesex Street into housing and business space. That property sits next to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell.
Another $500,000 from the same program is earmarked for New Royal LLC to convert the former Royal Theater on Merrimack Street into 17-units of housing and a new retail space for Sophia’s Greek Pantry. That now condemned property is on the other side of Merrimack Street from City Hall and ironically just a stone’s throw away from the Smith Baker Center.
Additionally, the city is receiving $150,000 Housing Choice Grant to review its entire Zoning Code with a special focus on zoning changes which will help spur housing production in the city, a $75,000 Community Planning Grant for the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG) to complete Phase II of a comprehensive 10-year regional housing plan and a $25,000 Downtown Initiative Grant for Phase II of implementing a Business Improvement District (BID).
Rounding out the seven Mill City awards is Community Teamwork Incorporated, which received $100,000 for its Entrepreneurship Center.
The Town of Chelmsford also received a Housing Choice Grant to bridge a funding gap of its extended Fiscal Year 2023 grant for design plans for the Vinal Square Transportation Improvement Project.
