Davidson lot tops list for Lowell judicial center
Tough questions likely as council subcommittee reviews three sites
By CHRISTOPHER SCOTT and JASON LEFFERTS
Sun Staff
5/5/2001
LOWELL -- The city administration has identified three potential sites for a $35 million judicial center, with the city-owned Davidson Street parking lot off East Merrimack Street emerging as the top preference.
That selection will undergo some questioning and may find some resistance from the City Council, starting with a three-person subcommittee meeting Monday night. Two of the three panel members have said they would rather see the center placed in an area that would maximize economic development.
The potential sites were highlighted in a "packet" distributed to city councilors and members of the media yesterday afternoon. Such packets, distributed each Friday, contain information that will likely be discussed at the following week's City Council meeting.
Besides the Davidson lot, the other two sites are:
* A privately owned parking lot between Jackson and Middlesex streets, which is targeted for acquisition in another city effort -- the Jackson-Appleton-Middlesex urban-renewal plan. This area is the favorite of councilors Dan Tenczar and Richard Howe, who sit on the ad-hoc subcommittee created for the center. Both feel the economic stimulus of the center would best fit the Jackson-Appleton-Middlesex area.
* Church Street Plaza, unofficially known as Central Plaza, the former site of a department store that's now home to several smaller businesses.
The judicial center, which would include the Superior Court, Registry of Deeds and probation space, is part of a $78 million overhaul of the city's court areas.
City Manager John Cox, who is meeting with the City Council's judicial center subcommittee Monday at 5 p.m. to discuss the site-selection process, declined to comment for this story. In his letter to councilors included in their weekend packets, Cox identifies Davidson Street as the administration's top spot.
"This site offers the most suitable combination of land area, site flexibility, and access," Cox wrote. "Those factors, in combination with the unique opportunity to integrate uses and provide parking for multiple functions, makes this the preferred location."
According to a Division of Planning and Development document on the site search, the Davidson lot "is the largest development area and has the potential for additional development such as office space and a performing arts center that could complement the judicial center."
The document also mentions easy access to major highways and the fact that the city already owns the parking lot there.
The emergence of Davidson Street as the recommended site pleases Rep. Kevin Murphy, who has been spearheading the judicial center effort on Beacon Hill.
"I think it's excellent news and from my standpoint (it is) the optimum site because much of it is city-owned and it's environmentally clean," said Murphy, D-Lowell.
Murphy said that if the city can present to the state an inexpensive, buildable site, he's confident Lowell will move up a few spots on the list for state funding.
Coupled with the state's recent announcement that it will spend $275,000 designing a Lowell judicial center and ways to improve existing court facilities, Murphy said he's "very confident" about Lowell's chances.
Not everyone is ready to jump on the Davidson Street bandwagon, however. Tenczar said the judicial center is an opportunity for the city to spur economic development downtown, and he feels the Jackson-Appleton-Middlesex area needs the center the most.
"I think (Davidson Street) is a limited location because it's surrounded by the Concord River, the Lowell Memorial Auditorium and the Immaculate Church. Obviously, those areas can't be developed," Tenczar said. "I think you can have more of an economic impact and stabilizing effect on the Jackson-Appleton-Middlesex area. You can stabilize that area by locating the judicial center there."
Howe said he's pleased the city has chosen three sites, calling it "the essential first step." Despite favoring the Jackson Street site -- he feels that area needs more attention from the city to spur economic development than East Merrimack Street -- Howe said he's amenable to listening to Cox explain the site-selection process and his preferences.
Howe said, however, that if there's a private investor waiting in the wings to complement the center on East Merrimack Street, "the city ought to take a second look at it."
Councilor Bill Martin, who is chairman of the subcommittee, takes an opposite view. He feels the Jackson-Appleton-Middlesex area, due to its proximity to the Lowell Connector, can develop itself without the stimulus of a judicial center, and he's not sure the same holds true for the Davidson Street area.
Referring to the Jackson Street site, the Division of Planning and Development document maintains that it is too small for a judicial center. Plus, there's possible "hazardous materials and unknown soils."
The Church Street site, the document states, has several disadvantages, including high acquisition costs and the potential difficulty in relocating existing businesses.
City officials are hoping that a quick and firm decision on a site will allow Lowell to gain state funding. Speed has become an essential issue, however.
"It's a nice problem to have," Tenczar said. "We really just need to get a site picked."
Jason Lefferts' e-mail address is jlefferts@lowellsun.com. Christopher Scott's e-mail address is cscott@lowellsun.com.
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