By Rita Savard, rsavard@lowellsun.com
LOWELL -- City Manager Bernie Lynch yesterday said he is close to wrapping up negotiations to transfer a four-acre parcel in the Hamilton Canal District to the state, a prerequisite for building a new, $125 million judicial center.
The state Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), the real-estate arm of state government, must take title to the property before the design and construction process can get under way in earnest.
A DCAM spokesperson was unavailable yesterday, but Lynch said he met with representatives of the state agency on Thursday and reported that the end of talks and the beginning of action is near.
"We're very pleased with the progress that's been made," Lynch said. "We're very close to having a deal that will allow DCAM to have a site that they own to proceed with construction."
Slated for construction on a vacant, city-owned parcel at the western end of Jackson Street -- located in a 15-acre urban renewal zone that city planners have dubbed the Hamilton Canal District -- the center will house new facilities for the Lowell superior, district, housing and probate courts.
Gov. Deval Patrick last month filed a spending request with the Legislature that included $125 million for the new judicial center.
Lynch said he is hopeful paperwork for the land transfer will be inked within two months.
State Sen. Steve Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, a key advocate for getting state funding for the project, said he would have liked to see the city "a little further along" in the land transfer process, adding, "but it is moving forward."
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Saturday, February 23, 2008