History and Status 1972 to Present

The Center City Committee program began in 1972 with a $400,000 grant from the New England Regional Commission to the City of Lowell. Then City Manager James Sullivan appointed a Blue-Ribbon committee which was chaired by City Councilor Robert Kennedy and included representatives from city government, business, labor, and other agencies in the city dealing with economic development in one way or another to oversee the spending of the Federal funds. A subcommittee consisting of city planner Bruce Hahl, Model Cities Director Jack Tavares, Assistant Director of NMAC (now NMCOG)Frank Keefe, Director of Planning at CTI Bill Lipchitz, and Model Cities Education Director Pat Mogan was convened to develop and recommend goals, plans and programs. The first year, the money was spent on a tax title program, a planning grant for the Urban National Park, studies on unemployment and the needs of industry in the city, a transportation program to get people to job sites on route 128, and the first downtown beautification program which included brick sidewalks, trees and benches.

The program was refunded in 1973 and 1974 with money going to an Industrial Renewal Program, the tax title program, a brochure aimed at attracting industry, more downtown beautification, and a blueprint for economic development called the Economic Development Strategy authored by Frank Keefe who was, by then, City Planner. In all, over $1,200,000 was spent on activities to increase the viability of the city.

Most of these programs were successful in terms of their own goals but more importantly, the greatest impact the Committee had was in bringing together the Public and Private sectors for regular meetings and discussions of the city's needs, goals, problems and objectives. It has been stated by Frank Keefe and others that the attitude of cooperation fostered by the Committee was the impetus that helped make the Urban National Park and other efforts that followed so successful.

By 1975, the New England Regional Commission was being phased out and money was no longer available. The Committee had $50,000 left and wanted to give it to the newly formed Lowell Development and Financial Corporation by buying stock in that organization. Since the City could not own the stock, it was determined that the most feasible solution was for the Center City Committee to incorporate. However, the incorporation resulted in the Committee changing its status from a city sponsored entity to a private, non-profit corporation. For about ten years, the Center City Committee, Inc. functioned with a greatly reduced board of seven (7) Directors who met annually, maintained 1648 shares of LDFC stock and participated actively in the affairs of that Corporation.

In 1985, the Board decided it was time to look at new and exciting ways to serve the community. Accordingly, the Board was increased to 11 members and many other prominent people from the city were invited to help plan future activities. From that effort came a format of 2 to 3 Informational Forums that were held each year wherein topics relating to problems and progress in Lowell were discussed with a group of about 40-50 leaders from business, government, education, social services, and cultural organizations. Each year, after the first general meeting which concentrated on updating everyone on current activities, a particular topic or topics were chosen for an in-depth discussion. Some of the past topics were Downtown Vandalism and Maintenance, Housing, The proposed Cultural Plan, the Reorganization of the City's Department of Parks and Recreation, and the school building bond issue. In each case speakers with specific knowledge on or connections to the topic were invited for an overview and to facilitate discussion.

In February 1993, the Center City Committee joined forces with the informal "Tuesday Morning Group Meeting" at the Enterprise Bank chaired by George Duncan by inviting and voting in as members anyone who participated in those group discussions. At that time, the structure of the Organization consisted of up to forty-five members who were elected annually and who also functioned as the Board of Directors / Executive Committee. The utilization of the Tuesday Morning Group as a membership base did not changed the Tuesday Group's basic, informal operation, but did allow for a more formal structure in those instances where it could be helpful. In 1994, The Committee sponsored a forum on Downtown Issues which was highlighted by a speech by Kurt Schmoke, Mayor of Baltimore who discussed ways to revitalize the down town including the building of a stadium. Several workshops were held which resulted in the formulation of the Vision for Lowell in the Year 2000, and culminated in a report outlining actions to be taken to deal with traffic, parking, retail development, beautification and quality of life issues.

In 1995, the Committee developed a year-round indoor Farmers'Market that became The Center City Marketplace, operated by Community Teamwork, Inc. The marketplace closed in 1999, but along with The Design Center was instrumental in revitalizing the Palmer Street area of downtown. The Center City Committee also initiated the idea of a welcoming fair for new businesses, supported the building of the Tsongas Arena and LeLacheur Baseball Stadium and their respective minor league franchises the Lowell Lock Monsters and the Lowell Spinners, took the lead on beautification of downtown, and proposed a retail development strategy, elements of which were carried out under the auspices of the City's DPD department.

Members of the Committee were active participants in the City's 2000 Downtown Master Plan, attending workshops and serving on the Citizens Advisory Committee. The Committee offered its 501 (c) (3) tax exempt non-profit structure as a vehicle to establish a management entity for downtown Lowell as envisioned in the Master Plan.

In 2006, the Center City Committee, Inc. underwent another change it its structure by becoming an entity that represents everyone in the downtown and is now made up of 23 Stakeholder Organizations representing every aspect of downtown life from residents to business owners (including retailers, restaurant owners and commercial businesses) to city officials, building owners, educational institutions, cultural organizations, social service agencies, students, and visitor-oriented organizations like the National Park and the CVB. It provides a forum for networking and information exchange and meets regularly to help promote the downtown.

Recently, the Committee and its members have participated in the campaign to welcome new residents to the downtown, the City Manager's Downtown summit, the Hamilton Canal Visioning Sessions, and the Lowell Plan study of the downtown.

There is much more to be done, but the City has been successful because of the willingness of the public and private sectors to work together toward a common goal.