Middlesex Community College acquired the Rialto building in 2007. (Middlesex Community College)
By John Laidler Globe Correspondent / January 24, 2010
Middlesex Community College acquired the Rialto building in 2007. (Middlesex Community College)
The fiscal 2010 Omnibus Appropriations Bill adopted by Congress last month includes $194,800 for a feasibility study and a conceptual design of the renovation project to prepare the building for its new use.
US Representative Niki Tsongas joined with US Senator John F. Kerry and interim senator Paul Kirk to secure the money.
“It’s critical,’’ Patrick Cook, executive director of public affairs for Middlesex Community College, said of the federal earmark, noting that having a study and initial design in place will enable the college to seek additional federal and state funding.
He said the federal money will cover all or most of the costs of the study and design preparation. The state’s Department of Capital Asset Management is expected to seek bids for the work this spring.
The largest community college in the state, Middlesex serves about 12,000 students at campuses in Lowell and Bedford.
The art center would be located in the 19th century Boston & Maine Railroad Depot building at 240 Central Street, which has been vacant since 1987. The Victorian Gothic-style structure, which the college acquired in 2007, is often referred to locally as the Rialto building because for many years it was the home of the Rialto Theatre.
The project would allow the college to consolidate its performing and visual arts programs, currently scattered at different sites. The renovated building would house classrooms and performance, exhibit, and multipurpose spaces for college programs, and would also be available for community use.
Cook said having the center would allow the college to expand an arts program that “is not in optimal condition now. We want better facilities for it, and this would be the perfect venue to do it.’’
He said it is also an important project for Lowell, both because the community would be invited to use the center and because the revitalization of the long-dormant theater building would complement the city’s other efforts to revitalize its downtown.
City and college officials, state legislators, and community leaders joined Tsongas at a recent event in Lowell to formally announce the federal budget award.
“Middlesex Community College continues to expand its offerings to students and create new and mutually rewarding partnerships with the city of Lowell,’’ Tsongas said in a prepared statement. The funding will “help restore the historic Rialto building, increasing the college’s presence in downtown Lowell and helping to revitalize the Hamilton Canal area.’’
She said the college’s plan “also preserves an important part of Lowell’s past. This structure was occupied by a diverse group of businesses and community organizations over the course of nearly a century and was enjoyed by Lowell residents for generations.’’
State lawmakers authorized $11 million for Middlesex Community College to spend on performing arts facilities as part of $45 million overall for the college in the 2008 higher education capital bond. However, the administration has yet to fund the project.
Constructed in 1876-77, the building served as the Boston & Maine Railroad’s Central Street depot until 1895, when a new station was built nearby.
According to Cook, historic photographs indicate that express companies, printing offices, a tailor shop, and the Western Union telegraph company leased space at the depot during that period and in the decade following.
From 1895 until 1913, portions of the building were used to store cotton and wool. Starting in 1913, the Boston & Maine Railroad leased the building to the Owl Theater, which in 1920 was renamed the Rialto Theatre, Cook said.
The theater continued to operate until the 1960s, surviving a 1955 fire that caused extensive damage. In the 1960s, the building was converted to a bowling alley and a billiards parlor.
It also was occupied by music teachers, barbers, florists, real estate agents, and a paint supply store.
In 1984, portions of the building were razed, but in 1989, plans to demolish it entirely were blocked by the Lowell Historic Board.
That year, the building was donated by its owner to the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission, which in turn transferred it to the National Park Service.
After the exterior was restored by the Park Service, the building was acquired by the college through the same federal disposition process Middlesex used in 2004 to acquire the former post office in Kearney Square.
Adam Baacke, Lowell’s assistant city manager and director of planning and development, said the city is supportive of the college’s plan for the Rialto building, which is across the street from the Jackson/Appleton/Middlesex district, one of Lowell’s two urban renewal districts.
“Middlesex Community College has demonstrated over the past couple of decades that they are a tremendous asset to our downtown, and they’ve done a really fantastic job of renovating a number of historic buildings in the downtown, bringing them back to life with new uses,’’ Baacke said. “This is clearly another step in that direction.’’
He said the project “also meshes extremely well with the city’s emphasis on arts and culture, which has been part of our downtown revitalization planning the last 10 years.’’
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
This story appeared in the Boston Globe on Sunday, January 24, 2010.