With the State’s migrant housing crisis leading Governor Maura Healey to declare a State of Emergency this past Tuesday, the search for emergency shelters is leaving no stone unturned. In the Mill City, that effort is now checking in on the availability of the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center.
Sources tell InsideLowell the Commonwealth is in discussions with the University about using the facility on Warren Street that’s currently used as a dormitory and seasonal hotel with meeting space.
At one time in the building’s history, nearly 250-guest rooms were available to traveling businesspeople and tourists. That configuration makes it an attractive location for the state, as it seeks to house those already in the pipeline after coming across the border, plus the thousands who continue to be relocated every month to Massachusetts.
The obvious drawback is the potential strain an influx of families puts on city services and an already crowded school system. It also does nothing to address the existing crisis with homelessness and addiction that Lowell has been struggling with, not to mention the affordable housing shortage, which is already at a critical stage due to a lack of inventory.
Across the town line, Manager Paul Cohen says the state already kicked the tires on the former Radisson Hotel and its 81-rooms in Chelmsford Center about 6-weeks ago, though Cohen says he hasn’t heard back since.
“Our community has been doing it’s part for years to accommodate the homeless population at the Best Western Hotel and Holiday Inn Express, and we don’t mind continuing to do so” Cohen tells InsideLowell. “Our concern is whether we will receive advance notice of any additional families arriving and what impact that will have on town services, especially the schools.”
Meanwhile, we continue to pick up rumblings that Archdiocese of Boston properties in the area are under consideration, despite the former Jeanne d’Arc School being eliminated after investigation by the state.
Specifically, the former St. Louis School in the Centralville neighborhood keeps popping up in discussions with our political insiders. Given the Archdiocese has already shown a willingness to work with the Governor’s office, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that any and all church properties are in play.
And of course, Tewksbury State Hospital is another location we’re hearing whispers about. Long-pointed to as a potential solution to the mental health and addiction bed shortages, we’re told not to rule it out as a site for migrant families, given that it’s already a state owned facility and Governor Healy vowed to use any and all resources to address the State of Emergency.
