Despite “howls” of protest from a small number of advocates, City officials cleared out the tent city encampment at the former Centralville Dog Park.
The location was the site of a Lowell Police operation earlier this month which resulted in the seizure of two illegal firearms and the arrest of an alleged Fentanyl dealer and an individual with outstanding warrants. One of the firearms had the serial number removed.
In addition, there were dozens of propane gas tanks scattered across the area, which necessitated the Lowell Fire Department be brought in.
Neighbors and residents have grown increasingly frustrated with this encampment, and others, due to drug activity, trafficking, robberies and other crimes they believe are tied into the location, which is along the Merrimack River near the VFW Highway, 1st Street and the Hunts Falls Bridge.
Participating in today’s operation were members of the Police and Parks Departments, along with the Lowell Community Opioid Outreach Program (CO-OP) team.
Below are some before and after photos of the scene.
7 responses to ““Dog Park” Cleanup Complete”
Thank you!!!!!!!!
Great work by the city and it partners!!!
A job well done by all involved in the cleanup!
Great job!! Let’s keep this going! They need to find shelters.
The city should set up a designated camping location (with adjacent police substation ?) and then it can make camping anywhere else illegal and an arrestable offense. A regulated zone can also enforce sanitary standards and prohibit fire hazards.
It’s not that we’re hard-hearted idiots, but if the choice is between the homeless encampments or Lowell’s families, then the homeless have to go.
Lowell’s homeless encampments are needle parks, shooting galleries and criminal hideouts.
These aren’t your neighbors “just down on their luck”. They’re criminals, dealers, hardcore addicts, people with violent mental illnesses that spend the winter months in Florida and the summer in Lowell.
We have to decide who Lowell’s parks are for: your kids or addicts who willfully refuse social services.
Thank you to the City of Lowell for addressing this issue and cleaning the area up.