RichardHowe.com – Voices from Lowell & Beyond

Lowell Politics: December 14, 2024

For those of us longing for a Lowell City Council meeting that shared a strategic vision for the city rather than debating which pothole to fill next, Christmas came early this year when Mayor Dan Rourke, at last Tuesday’s council meeting, briefed the council and everyone else on a strategic undertaking that Rourke called “the single biggest vote in the last 50 years in Lowell.” After learning more about the proposal, I don’t think he was exaggerating.

Here’s a summary of what this is all about: Back in September, Mayor Rourke traveled to Toronto, Canada to attend an international conference on sustainable urban development. While there, he encountered representatives of several organizations with a track record for investing in urban development projects that have revived blighted areas of cities around the world (although none yet in the United States).

In sharing their success stories, these organizations were also seeking new opportunities. That’s where Lowell comes in. The city is fertile ground for the redevelopment of troubled areas, but so is every other Gateway City in Massachusetts. What sets Lowell apart is the city’s past successes including ongoing efforts at sustainability; the presence of Lowell National Historical Park; the vitality of UMass Lowell; a diverse population; and the cultural vibrancy that comes with that. As Rourke succinctly put it, Lowell checks all the boxes.

As for the bigger picture, this all flows from the United Nations “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” which was adopted by the UN member states back in 2015. Central to this effort are 17 “Sustainable Development Goals” or SDGs. Here they are:

• Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
• Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
• Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

A constellation of organizations around the world has emerged to support these goals. One of these is the Urban Economy Forum (UEF), an organization that collaborates with the United Nations to implement the above-listed Sustainable Development Goals with a particular focus on Goal 11 which is “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”

The Urban Economy Forum has in turn created something called the World Urban Pavilion which, according to its website, “is a knowledge exchange hub to share best practices, innovation and research in urban development and revitalization from countries around the world. The Pavilion envisions people centered, sustainable cities that are planned through data analysis, driven by innovation and informed by the SDGs [Sustainable Development Goals].”

After looking at a variety of websites and articles, it seems that Urban Economy Forum is a facilitator that brings together investors, outside experts, and communities in need of and open to revitalization. Because it is global in its scope and because its efforts are completely aligned with the UN’s sustainable development goals, this program gives a city like Lowell access to investors that would not otherwise be available.

On every website I visited in this inquiry, sustainable housing development was prominently mentioned, and Lowell certainly could use more of that.

What is the price for Lowell for this opportunity? As I understand it, the city must commit to being the poster city for this effort in the United States, since no other community in this country has yet participated. That price certainly seems affordable, even desirable. It harkens back to the glory days of Lowell National Historical Park when global celebrities like Prince Charles (now King Charles of the United Kingdom) visited Lowell to see historic preservation in action.

In November, several city councilors accompanied Mayor Rourke back to Toronto where they met with many of those involved in these programs and learned much about how they were implemented in Toronto and of all the benefits that have flowed to that city and its residents as a result.

Finally, the council voted unanimously on Tuesday to authorize the City Manager to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with the Urban Economy Forum with the goal of making the city of Lowell part of this program, so we will be hearing more about it in 2025.

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The Urban Economy Forum would not be the first United Nations-related enterprise underway in Lowell. Since 2018, a group of dedicated volunteers has worked to make Lowell the first UNESCO Learning City in the United States.

UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It defines a learning city as a place that:

“…supports and improves the practice of lifelong learning in the world’s cities by promoting policy dialogue and peer learning among member cities; forging links; fostering partnerships; providing capacity development; and developing instruments to encourage and recognize progress made in building learning cities.” Learning cities exist because they mobilize resources in order to:

• Promote inclusive learning from basic to higher education,

• Revitalize learning in families and communities,

• Facilitate learning for and in the workplace

• Extend the use of modern learning technologies

• Enhance quality and excellence in learning

• Foster a culture of learning throughout life

The earliest proponent of this undertaking, retired UMass Lowell professor John Wooding, made the case for Lowell back in 2018 when he wrote:

“All the elements [needed to be a Learning City] are already here. The idea of Lowell as an educational hub is built into its DNA going back at least to Patrick Mogan’s vision in the late 1970s of Lowell as “an educative city.” The National Park was part of that vision and is a vibrant educational force. We have the institutions: a major research university, an excellent community college, and an excellent school system. We have the museums and art galleries, we have the artists of all kinds and heritage workers, and we have hundreds of community groups most of which offer educational. As is often said, you can go from kindergarten to a Ph.D. and never leave the city.”

Each year since 2018, the Lowell City of Learning group has staged a festival, usually in the spring, that celebrates all the learning opportunities, both formal and informal, that are available in Lowell.

Consequently, I was heartened to see on this week’s city council agenda a motion by Mayor Rourke requesting the City Manager “to work with the City of Learning Committee and Congresswoman Trahan to help secure ‘Learning City Designation’ from UNESCO.”

Synergy is defined as “the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.” Pursuing both the Urban Economy Forum housing investment opportunity and the UNESCO City of Learning designation simultaneously is a good illustration of “synergy” in the operation of local government.

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My assertion in last week’s newsletter of the city’s emerging strategy of arresting homeless people as a way to curtail the collateral damage caused by the homeless generated a thoughtful and thorough email from a downtown dwelling reader.

The reader first reported that the adverse impacts I mentioned as plaguing the South Common and its surrounding neighborhood – discarded needles, human waste in doorways, and trash strewn throughout – affected all of downtown; not just the South Common.

On my parallel assertion that the city lacked a comprehensive development plan, the reader observed, “It is impossible to pursue any plan when downtown is so plainly be-knighted by homelessness. If the homeless are off the streets, the city immediately becomes more livable, and everyone is more free to pursue their plans. All of the conditions are right for the next surge of growth in the city. Make it feel safe, and the plans will take care of themselves.”

But the part of the reader’s response that I found most interesting, and helpful to further understanding the problem, is that much of what is done now in terms of providing shelter and meals, doesn’t help solve the issue but just perpetuates it. Here’s the key observation:

“Homelessness is not a crisis, it is a chronic condition. On the individual level folks slip into this through bad luck, bad choices, and abuse by others. The details of their paths are as individual as they are. The path out involves establishing safety, receiving long term support, and hard work on the self. Again, unique for each individual. The first step is having a safe indoor home. Feeding people while allowing them to live in tents is just another form of abuse. Every night they spend in the cold, afraid for their lives is a further deepening of their trauma.”

In these observations, the reader is not wrong. The most effective way to address this would be to treat each of the approximately 200 hard core homeless individuals in Lowell as the social equivalent of an intensive care patient in the hospital. Just as staffing the intensive care ward at Lowell General is a huge cost, so would this effort but thus far, society and the community have not been willing or able to make that level of investment. That leaves the question of what do you do in the meantime? You cannot let people starve of freeze to death. Sure, if you cut those resources, the individuals partaking in them would be forced to change how they are living, but that outcome seems too much of a gamble. Better to keep providing survival levels of food and shelter while at the same time devoting more and intensive resources to the situation. But as usual, that’s easier said than done. In the meantime, it’s important that we all give at least as much support and understanding to downtown residents and business owners as we do to the homeless individuals themselves.

Visting Western Avenue Studios

Loading Dock Gallery at Western Avenue Studios

This past Saturday I visited Western Avenue Studios, which is the largest collection of artists in a single place east of the Mississippi River. The quality of the art on display and for sale was amazing. There was something for every taste and price range.

Western Ave will be open this coming Saturday, December 14, 2024, from noon to 5 pm. There’s plenty of parking on site, but if those spaces are taking, an overflow lot is available at the nearby Stoklosa School with a free shuttle bus back to WAS.

For more information, check out the Western Avenue website.

Since March 2020, I’ve worked in the Lowell Justice Center, which is just 500 feet from Western Avenue Studios. But because Western Ave is closed to traffic and pedestrians at its Dutton Street end, walking or driving to Western Ave is a journey of exactly one mile (Middlesex to School to Western Ave).

It wasn’t always this way. For most of its existence, Western Ave intersected Thorndike Street and was open to vehicles and pedestrians.

As more and more housing gets constructed in the Hamilton Canal District, the population of potential visitors to and customers of Western Ave will increase considerably, but only if it’s made easier to get there.

Below is an article I wrote back in 2016 on this very same issue. Since then, I’m not sure if any progress has been made. It seems like an issue that is deserving of more attention.

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Western Ave & Thorndike St: Some History

November 1, 2016

Western Avenue Studios

Western Avenue Studios is a small business incubator for Lowell and is said to be the biggest collection of artists in one location east of the Mississippi River. Located in the former Massachusetts Mohair Plush mill building alongside the Pawtucket Canal, Western Avenue Studios is just a short walk from the Hamilton Canal District and the rest of downtown Lowell – except it isn’t, because that end of Western Ave is blocked to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

The end of Western Ave with Dunkin Donuts and Mill No. 5 visible beyond railroad tracks

1936 Lowell Atlas showing intersection of Western Ave and Thorndike St

In the early 1900s, Western Avenue connected School Street to Thorndike Street, as shown in the image from the 1936 Lowell Atlas shown above. Back then, Fletcher and Thorndike Streets ran in a straight line, connecting at their intersection with Dutton Street, which ran along the Merrimack Canal from French Street, through Fletcher/Thorndike, and on to Willie Street in the Acre. Western Ave ran parallel to Dutton Street and intersected Thorndike a short distance to the south of Dutton, about where the drive through lane for the Dunkin Donuts is now located. At some point (I don’t yet know when or why) Western Ave was blocked at its Thorndike Street end.

School Street bridge at Western Ave

Western Ave remained blocked until 1985. That year, a devastating fire destroyed the School Street bridge over the Pawtucket Canal in the vicinity of the gas company (it was a large gas line that ran under the bridge that ruptured and made the fire so intense). To help alleviate the traffic disruption caused by the closure of School Street, the Lowell City Council on November 19, 1985, petitioned the Middlesex County Commissioners for permission to establish “a highway-rail grade crossing” at Western Avenue. The purpose of this crossing was “to provide a temporary detour route for vehicular traffic during the reconstruction of the School Street bridge which was partially destroyed by fire.” After a public hearing on this petition, the Department of Public Utilities ruled that the request was reasonable and recommended the County Commissioners grant the request with the conditions that permission for the crossing would end in five years or upon completion of the re-opening of the School Street bridge and on the further condition that the city pay for an automatic protection system of gates, bells, and flashing lights at the crossing for as long as it was allowed.

Photo from July 17, 1995 Lowell Sun. Reopening of School Street Bridge

The new School Street bridge took ten years to complete, reopening on July 17, 1995, but not everyone wanted Western Avenue to be again closed at Thorndike Street. Since the fire, Ed Souza, an employee of the city’s Department of Planning and Development, had built Mill City Car Wash at the end of Western Avenue on the site now occupied by the Dunkin Donuts. Sousa argued to a city council subcommittee that closing that end of Western Ave would hurt his business. Supporting Sousa’s request were City Councilor Tarsy Poulios and then-State Representative Steve Panagiotakos.

Opposing the request to keep Western Avenue open was Elkin McCallum, president of Joan Fabrics, which had a manufacturing plant on Western Ave (presumably in the building now occupied by Western Avenue Studios). The Lowell Sun political column on June 4, 1995, “Storm Brews over planned closure of Western Ave,” quoted a letter to the city from McCallum as saying “Opening Western Avenue at both ends would seriously impact [his company’s] expansion plans” on Western Avenue.” The column speculated that since McCallum had just moved his corporate headquarters from Lowell to Tyngsboro, so City Manager Richard Johnson would not want to be seen as disregarding McCallum’s concerns about his Western Avenue facility. The article stated the many large trucks that serviced McCallum’s facility would have an easier time maneuvering if Western Ave was again a dead-end street. (An additional consideration for city leaders may have been Mr. McCallum’s status as one of the three co-owners of the American Hockey League franchise that was coming to the city the following year to play in the as yet unfinished Tsongas Arena).

Western Avenue was re-closed at Thorndike Street shortly thereafter and it has stayed closed ever since. The community can probably live with it remaining closed to vehicular traffic. But it is essential to the continued and future economic vitality of Western Avenue Studios and to the Hamilton Canal District and, by extension, the rest of downtown, that it be reopened legally and safely to pedestrians, and not with some hyper-expensive bridge that no one will want to use, but with an at-grade pedestrian crossing with lights, bells, and gates. Lowell city government was able to reopen the road back in 1985 when circumstances demanded it. We should be able to do it again.

2016 Google imagery of Western Ave – Thorndike St area.

New painting gladdens 19th c. wartime Paris by Marjorie Arons-Barron

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

Paris in Ruins: Love, War and the Birth of Impressionism by Sebastian Smee is a well-researched account of France from the reign of Napoleon III through the end of his empire, the Franco-Prussian War he had provoked, the radical socialist “Commune” that followed, and, finally, the establishment of a calmer republic that lasted into the 20^th century. Woven through the history and politics is the story of a rebellious group of artists and intellectuals seeking to wrest power from the grip of conservative guardians of artistic standards. The non-conformists shared the republicans’ goals of a more liberal form of government, but, as significantly perhaps, they were intent on breaking loose from the Academie des Beaux Arts’ official Salon de Paris’ steely control determining what was praiseworthy art.

In addition to art history, political history, and biography, Smee focuses on military history, especially the civil war in France right after defeat by the Germans. Almost to a fault, Smee chronicles every aspect of the street-to-street fighting between Communards and republicans, most notably the so-called Bloody Week.

Out of the post-war rubble and the near wasteland of what had been the world’s most cultured and beautiful city would arise a new art form, Impressionism. The paintings did not reflect the horrors of the war. Nor did they conform to their predecessors’ preoccupation with themes from religion, mythology or ancient history. At the center of the movement were Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas, very different in personalities but determined to innovate in the subjects and styles of their paintings.  Their works, along with those of luminaries like Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne, and Camille Pissarro, were filled with light and often exuberance, and focused on the bourgeoisie as well as what we now call working class – people at leisure, people on the job.

A key figure in Smee’s remarkable book is artist Berthe Morisot.  She was in love with Manet but, as he was already married, had to settle for one of his two brothers, Eugene. Smee calls her “the century’s great painter-poet of ‘transcience value.’” Her paintings, which reach out to capture fleeting moments,  are elegant and often intimate, frequently of her sister Edma and domestic life. Smee captures their lightness and their loveliness, down to the brush stroke. It’s here that the author especially shines, describing the artists’ creative processes, their struggles, and their impacts against the backdrop of the social and political history of their times.  If you love Paris, if you are taken with the Impressionists and art in general, this book will be a rich experience for you, one totally worth your time.

Paul in Paris

Paul in Paris

By Louise Peloquin

Beatles fans, this is for you and is dedicated to the late Malcolm Sharps of Liverpool.  

The 2023 edition of The Lowell Review devoted an entire section to the Beatles. Charlie Gargiulo’s “Legends of Little Canada” also evokes their magic. (1) The memories shared in these texts are potent enough to wipe away the years and bring us back to days which changed our lives forever. In memory of the epiphany we experienced, I submit this text.

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On December 4th, my phone beeped and a message flashed on the screen: “What are you doing tomorrow night? Got an extra ticket to see Paul McCartney. Want it?” The sender was a good friend so this wasn’t some senior-scamming subterfuge. What else could I respond but “Yeah, yeah, yeah!”

     Checking off this bucket list item started to sink in. My blood pressure dropped. I had to sit down. The Beatlemania wave was overwhelming me again. I had never seen any of the Fab Four on stage. This would be a now-or-never experience. You can discover my foundational Beatle moment here:

https://richardhowe.com/2022/02/15/little-child-wont-you-dance-with-me/

Paul McCartney performed with his band at the Paris La Défense Arena, built for the 2024 Olympics. The venue offers three separate configurations – rugby, swimming and concerts. It is the largest concert hall in Europe. 40,000 fans filled the Arena on December 4th and 5th leaving not a single seat or standing spot available.

Ticket-holders inched towards the entrances. In addition to the Arena’s private security detail, dozens of fully-geared police officers closely supervised the crowd – standard procedure since the November 13, 2015 terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert hall which killed 137 and injured at least 416. Were it not for the usual brazen, pushy, line-cutting scoundrels, the slow-moving queue was a joyous sight to see – not only baby-boomers like me but family members spanning three generations.

Once inside, the audience had to impatiently wait for just over a half-hour for Sir Paul to appear holding his Höfner bass. The already-electrified crowd went wild as the show began with “A Hard Day’s Night.”

At 82, “the incarnation of elegance,” as one French reporter described him, is juvenilely energetic. His voice is miraculously intact. Six years after his last Paris performance, he was back on stage for two and a half hours, non-stop. The astounding musicians in his band brought the music to perfection.

After the first song, he announced: “Nous avons quelques anciennes chansons, des nouvelles et d’autres entre les deux” – “We’ve got a few old songs, some new ones and others in between.”

      “Drive My Car” and “Got to Get You into My Life,” lifted up by a phenomenal three-man brass outfit, put the crowd into a frenzy. No doubt about it, Paul McCartney and his long-time band rock.

A series of impeccably-pulled-off  “Foxy Lady” riffs, paid homage to “good mate” Jimi Hendrix.

To salute his “great friend” John Lennon, “Blackbird” and the moving ballad “Here today,” written after John’s assassination.

Then came “Now and then,” based on an unpublished track from John, come to life by Paul, Ringo and AI. Meanwhile, the giant screens strategically placed here and there inside the Arena flashed a slide show of Paul’s and Ringo’s 21st-century silhouettes mixed in with John’s and George’s 60’s faces. To follow the path of nostalgia, Paul grabbed a ukulele saying “George gave me this” and exalted “Something.”

More dedications and tributes followed, notably “Maybe I’m Amazed”, the superb love song composed for wife Linda who passed away in 1998. Before this emotional “Wings” throw-back, Paul, alone at his grand Steinway, dedicated  a melodious “My Valentine” to his  “wonderful wife Nancy” sitting in the front row at the foot of the spacious stage.

To switch the mood, an energetic full-band performance of “Getting better” got everyone swinging their hips, waving their hands and opening up their vocal chords.

A remarkable sequence of “oldies” delighted the crowd. Accompanied by his Martin acoustic guitar, Paul sung his ”very first song” – “In Spite of all the danger” followed by the 1962 smash “Love Me Do” composed at the age of 16.

Of course, he had to sing “Michelle” in Paris, with an accordion adding a local touch.

The Arena swayed and rocked while the 40,000 fans sang along to “Let it Be,” “Hey Jude,” “Lady Madonna,” the electrifying “Obla Di Obla Da” and “Get back.”

“Live and Let Die,” the 1973 James Bond theme song, literally fired up the venue with its booming music and blasting fireworks show.

The roller-coaster concert traveled back in time again with a very moving virtual duo set to the screen by New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson’s images. Paul finished “I’ve got a Feeling” by thanking Jackson for giving him the opportunity to “sing with John again” after 55 years.

Above are but a few highlights of an exceptional performance of  22 Beatles, 8 Wings, 1 Quarrymen (2) and 5 Paul McCartney songs.

When Paul and his band opened “The End,” I realized that Beatlemania would never end. The Thursday December 5, 2024 show reassured me that elegant and prolific Paul McCartney, at 82 years of youth, remains a musical giant.

These lyrics only skim the surface of my emotional tidal wave:

only waiting  for this moment to arise – (Blackbird – 1968)

Their production…second to none … / A splendid time … guaranteed to all – (Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! – 1967)

 wonderful to be here…certainly a thrill – (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – 1967 )

I’ve just seen a face I can’t forget the time or place – (I’ve just seen a face – 1965)

I find the things that you do … make me feel alright – (A Hard Day’s Night – 1964)

I’ve got to admit it’s getting better / A little better all the time – (Getting Better – 1967)

Everybody had a good time – (I’ve got a feeling – 1970)

Once there was a way / To get back homeward / Once there was a way / To get back home – (Golden Slumbers – 1969)

And in the end  / The love you take / Is equal to the love you make – (The End – 1969)

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1. Available at Loom Press – https://www.loompress.com/store/legends-of-little-canada – and at lala books, 189 Market Street, Lowell.
2. “In Spite of All the Danger” is the first song recorded in 1958 in Liverpool by the Quarrymen, then consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, pianist John Lowe and drummer Colin Hanton.