Yesterday was the day interested parties were allowed to do a site inspection of Lowell’s historic Smith Baker Center, a last gasp effort to determine whether any group or groups would be interested in purchasing the building and developing it.
The fate of the historic structure has been the subject of much debate in the city, with the City Council voting this past January to demolish the building, only to have the vote rescinded two months later, as a group of citizens fought for one last opportunity to save the building.
As part of that vote, the council agreed to the walk-thru for the group and any other potential bidders to examine its condition before determining what, if anything, they’d be able to do with the site.
Besides the already known Lowell group led by Highlands resident Dennis McCarthy, we’re told one other individual, an architect from Carlisle, MA was present for the site walk.
Photos from the site visit (published below) were provided to InsideLowell this morning.
The images show both the historic beauty of the building’s interior, along with the decades of neglect that have led to the determination by many that the best course of action is to tear it down and start over.
What the photos obviously can’t show is whether the building can be salvaged structurally and at what cost, the two determining factors that will ultimately drive any final decision.
(Photos courtesy Cameron DaCosta)
2 responses to “Smith Baker Walk-Thru Offers Simultaneous Glimpse at Beauty & Disrepair”
The city of Lowell has needed a new police station for years. Why not raze the building and build a new police station on the site? There has not been any tax revenue for the existing building. Therefore why not improve our city by giving our officers and public a much needed building?
Will there be an architectural salvage project for the church? Many of us live nearby and would like to save what we can and potentially include them in the historical buildings that still stand.