The following story ran in The Sun on 4/7/2000:
Panel seeking a fresher look at downtown
By JASON LEFFERTS
Sun Staff
LOWELL -- With issues ranging from the months-long discussion on affordable housing to the "wacky" idea of two-way traffic on Merrimack Street on its plate, a revved up Downtown Ad Hoc Subcommittee should meet in the next week.
The chairman of the recently-named City Council committee, Dan Tenczar, said he is excited to get going on the effort to put together what could be a master plan for the downtown section of the city.
"I'm energized by the Lowell 2000 and Beyond seminar (held last week)," Tenczar said. "We have to start to rethink what we've done in the past. What we've done in the past hasn't worked."
While the debate of affordable housing in downtown has been raging as city officials try to carve out a future for the Surf Building on Bridge Street, subcommittee members are more concerned about getting visitors into downtown and making the area more viable for them.
"I'd like to see if there's something we can do to encourage restaurants and small retail shops to the area," said subcommittee member Bill Martin. "The city manager announced a program in his State of the City address to aid those types of businesses, and I think we should work toward implementing that."
Along with the lure of shopping and dining in the area, Tenczar said the canals and rivers that flow around downtown should also be used as a drawing card for visitors. In the past, he has mentioned Duck Tours-type road and water vehicles for the area, and he maintains the importance of the water to downtown.
"We under-utilize our waterways. People love water, and we need to find a way to put our resources to use," Tenczar said.
Martin and Tenczar both say that transportation is a priority for the area. The main artery for the area is Merrimack Street, which is currently one-way. Councilor Rita Mercier proposed a study of making the street two-way on Tuesday, and admitted her own idea idea seems "wacky."
Tenczar, however, said "wacky" isn't necessarily bad, and the idea should be looked at, along with other ways to make getting around downtown easier.
"I think we need to start making it easier, if we want to be a destination city, for people to get around," Tenczar said. "We should get those trolleys off the tracks and get trolley buses, and make it so people can get anywhere downtown."
Martin said while downtown development continues in areas like Lawrence Mills and perhaps Boott Mills, the city needs to come up with ways to make sure traffic doesn't snarl up downtown.
"I think we need to look at long-term solutions for the access from highways," Martin said. "Part of that is in the works with the Arcand Drive improvements, but I think it needs to be more than that."
Mayor Eileen Donoghue, who named herself to the committee along with Tenczar and Martin, said the city needs a cohesive plan for the area, and said the subcommittee's work can help direct the administration in putting together a future for downtown.
"It's nice to have a plan or a blueprint that can get approval from the council that gives the manager some idea of the policy demands we expect," Donoghue said. "I think this is more of an overall approach."
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