CENTER CITY COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
April 26, 2005

Present: Mehmed Ali (National Park), Peter Aucella (National Park), Brian Connors (City Economic Development Officer), Marc Cordaire (DLBA), Colleen Cox (MCC), Susan De Mari (City Downtown Coordinator), Larry Field (building owner), Marshall Field (building owner), Matt Fitzpatrick (Enterprise Bank), Sara Khun (Lowell Police), Ted Lavash (downtown resident), Janet Leggat (Lowell Festival Foundation), Bill Lipchitz (CTI), Stephanie McCarthy (COOL), Jeanne Osborn (Chamber of Commerce), Juan Carlos Rivera (UTEC), Dora St. Martin (Pollard Library), Jim Scanlan (LRTA), Steve Syverson (business owner), Frank Thomas (downtown resident, and Michal Truelson (Arts League of Lowell).

The meeting opened at 8:40 AM.

Bill Lipchitz explained the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the formation of an umbrella group for the downtown that would be composed of organizations and individuals who represent all the stakeholders in the downtown.

Peter Aucella asked what the functions of the umbrella group would be. Marshall Field said he viewed it as a place to bring ideas to be discussed with the city as a partner to resolve issues and take action. Mehmed Ali said he thought that with the changes in the downtown, there is a need to be more proactive. Janet Leggat said communication was the key to her, as she sees this as a central place to get and exchange information about what is going on in the city.

Peter noted the Downtown Master Plan and the ULI report listed several functions that were more related to what a Business Improvement District (BID) would do, and asked if that is the intent of the new organization. Bill pointed out that while a BID might be in the future, it is not the main purpose of this organization at this time. A BID takes time to create, must be started from the community (as opposed to originating from the City), and has many obstacles built into the Massachusetts version of the legislation. If this organization were interested in a BID, it would be several years down the road.

Nevertheless, some discussion ensued about BID type issues like cooperative marketing, trash pick-up and standardized retail hours. Susan De Mari said she has been handling the marketing campaign for Lowell but it is broad in scope, aimed at selling Lowell to other areas of the state like Greater Boston. There was general agreement that we need to market to Lowellians and those in the immediate suburbs.

Stephanie McCarthy asked what are the benefits of the organization, how is it being structured, and what is the buy-in? She pointed out all the work she does as a one-person operation at COOL to promote the city’s cultural events and to put on the new Destination World program aimed at getting the businesses and cultural groups to work together to help the economy of the downtown. She mentioned other groups working towards similar ends and said as small-staffed organizations, there is not a lot of time to participate in another group.

Marshall said he saw an advantage to have more influence on issues by being at the table where they are resolved. Brian Connors asked how is the new organization different from the Center City Committee as it is currently constituted? Is it moving toward a BID? Larry Field said the new organization is a step forward even if it does not, by having downtown organizations work together better, we would be ahead of the curve.

Jeanne Osborne said the Chamber of Commerce is focused on Greater Lowell but that downtown was important to them too. She worried about duplication. Stephanie asked what are the issues that would be discussed.

Matt Fitzpatrick said that, for example, downtown is not pedestrian friendly and Larry said that new businesses are struggling. Steve Syverson said there is a perception among businesses that big events downtown do not bring in customers and thinks it would be good to collect some data about it. Stephanie said the COOL project is designed to overcome that concern by having the businesses participate in Destination World, and she would appreciate more involvement from the business community. Steve said that if the proposed organization were in existence when the project was being developed, it could have helped in that regard.

There was general agreement that there is a definite need for staff time and money to help make downtown work better.

Peter said there is a need to understand the need (for this new organization). Dora St. Martin asked if the idea for this was in the Downtown plan, what was the reason? Peter said the plan called for better coordination. Brian said his feeling is that what the downtown needs most is collaborative marketing among the businesses.

Frank Thomas said, as a new resident, he is missing out on information, and some residents are concerned about what developments are happening over which they have no control. For example, a new shoe store coming into the McCartin building where he lives is very different from what he thought would be going in there when he bought his condo. He also said there is no tipping point right now for the “cultural immigrants” to buy downtown. Larry said that a residents association would be helpful in this regard. Sara Khun pointed out that she is working on establishing one now. Larry said as a building owner, he could use some research on what is needed so he could recruit retail tenants better.

Stephanie said funding is needed for marketing for cultural organizations and there is a need to find ways to tie into the ethnic communities. She also said there is a problem with large organizations in keeping members interested and participating. As an example, she has a calendar of events that is designed to have COOL members add info on a regular basis, but it is difficult to get them to keep doing it. There is a definite need for staff time.

Dora thinks it is getting harder to reach newer residents, and that people buying condos in the downtown now are a different mix from the original artists that started the change.

Marc Coddaire from Marx Running Store said he is open 7 days a week and has been for the last two years. He said retailers can’t survive on one or two big events, and need that sustained marketing effort. He also is concerned about the need for more law enforcement presence on Sundays.

Steve said we do a great job of marketing Lowell to outsiders but not to the people who live here. He sees this new organization as a step in the right direction because right now we are all working as independent groups. This could be a clearinghouse for information including calendars and mailing lists. Ted Lavash said it would be good just for the communication it would foster. Matt agreed that communication is a key ingredient.

Marc said we should be marketing a place, not just an event. He thinks this organization could deal effectively with the issues of downtown.

Peter said there were things needed for downtown and that some arguments were made for the creation of the organization, but more structure is needed. Bill said that rather than impose a structure on the group, he would like to see it developed by consensus. Colleen Cox said the organization has to have a mission that is doable even if there is no money to do it.

It was agreed that another meeting would be helpful, but that the discussion should continue, both at informal CCC weekly meetings and via email so that more structure and purpose could be determined before that next meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 AM.