Today I’ll look back at the Lowell City Council in 2025 and identify some of top issues that arose over the past twelve months.

Three Incumbents Lose – In the 2025 city election, a quarter of the city council was ousted by voters. District councilors Corey Belanger, Wayne Jenness, and Paul Ratha Yem, all lost their reelection campaigns. Succeeding them will be Belinda Juran, Sean McDonough, and Sidney Liang. A fourth district councilor, John Descoteaux, had a close call when he finished second in the preliminary election to Marcos Candido, however, Descoteaux prevailed in the general election by receiving 724 votes to Candido’s 685. Notably, three district incumbents, Corey Robinson, Dan Rourke and Sokhary Chau, were unopposed. Given the difficulties some of their colleagues faced from challengers, it’s possible there would have been even more turnover on the council had there been more candidates.

Lowell High School Project – The Lowell High School renovation project was back before the city council several times in 2025. At the first meeting of the year, councilors inquired about a leak in the HVAC system that occurred during the Christmas break; the difficulty of using the bleachers in the gymnasium; problems with the floor of the gymnasium; and door locks that worked erratically. A much bigger issue arose in March when contractors reported that when they began renovating the northern half of the 1922 building, they discovered that the soil beneath the cement floor slab had mostly washed away, leaving a void that had to be corrected before work could continue. That required digging up the existing floor, filling the vacant space with dirt, then pouring a new floor. Later in the year, contractors acknowledged that the subfloor void existed in the rest of the 1922 building and in the adjacent Coburn Hall. Fixing this problem will add $40 million to the project. Because this add-on was discovered so late in the process, it is unlikely to be eligible for any reimbursement from the state so the entire additional cost will be borne by Lowell taxpayers. Or perhaps it won’t be since, in one of its final acts of 2025, the council rejected a vote to authorize the borrowing of the additional $40 million. We’ll have to wait until early 2026 to learn how this impasse will be resolved.

Federal funding cuts and policy changes – The Trump Administration’s cuts to federal spending were felt in Lowell, especially by the Lowell Folk Festival which faces perilous finances in the coming years due to the elimination of federal funding. Harm from fiscal cuts was not limited to the Folk Festival. As a pre-condition to receiving federal funds, the city and entities that receive federal money through the city, must purge from the websites and writings any mention of DEI, LGBTQ+, climate change, and others. Although applying for these funds is voluntary, they represent a substantial portion of the operating revenue of many nonprofit organizations which face the dilemma of adhering to their values and foregoing the money; or erasing their values to take the money. The repercussions of this will be more evident in 2026 than they were this year.

Lowell 311 system debuts – The long-awaited Lowell 311 system became operational in March. Utilizing a website, a telephone, and a smartphone app, the system allows residents to efficiently request city services while providing the city with data to help better manage the city’s workforce and resources.

Hamilton Canal Innovation District – In March, the city council enacted a controversial amendment to a Land Disposition Agreement relative to the use of several HCID lots between the city and the Lupoli Companies. Originally, the Lupoli Companies had promised to construct a 12 to 14-story mixed-use building; a second building of 50,000 square feet on an adjacent lot; and a privately owned parking lot on a third parcel. However, in 2024, the Lupoli Companies returned to the council to request permission to scale back the high rise building to a smaller, wood frame residential apartment building. Although most of the discussion took place in executive session, enough was said in public to know several councilors opposed the requested modification and preferred declaring a default in performance. However, the city administration and most councilors concluded that the modified deal was the best the city could get so the council endorsed the amended plan.

Smith Baker Center – In January, the council voted to demolish the Smith Baker Center which was originally constructed in the late 1800s as the First Congregational Church and later became the home of the Lowell Senior Center for several decades until the new center on Broadway opened in the early 2000s. The vote to demolish was six to two with one abstention and two absent. Those voting for demolition argued that the building had deteriorated so much that hopes to renovate it were unrealistic. However, a grassroots citizen group created to help save the building did not surrender but kept pressing the council. In March, the council rescinded the demolition vote and by the end of the year the council authorized the conveyance of the building to the citizen group with some conditions attached to ensure the building is made safe within a reasonable amount of time.

Jack Kerouac Center – The former St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church located just a few blocks up Merrimack Street from Smith Baker was rescued from similar precariousness when Zach Bryan, a generational talent and one of the most commercially successful country music stars in the world, purchased the former church to be used as the Jack Kerouac Center. It’s a fitting location since Kerouac’s funeral was held in the church which was also central to Lowell’s Franco community.

Frontrunner City – In July, Mayor Dan Rourke and City Manager Tom Golden announced that Lowell had been named the first “Frontrunner City” in the United States. Sponsored jointly by the United Nations Institute for Water, Environment and Health, the Urban Economy Forum, and the World Urban Pavilion, the Global Frontrunner Cities Initiative provides designated cities with access to global investment capital, expert urban planning, and international publicity. Relatedly, in December, Lowell was the first city in the United States to be added to the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. Together these international recognitions will heighten Lowell’s stature on the global stage and should expand the pool of financing available for development projects in the city.

Lowell Innovation Network Corridor (LINC) – Perhaps the most exciting developmental news in the city during 2025 came from UMass Lowell with its massive Lowell Innovation Network Corridor project. This undertaking seeks to transform the school’s West Campus which runs from the Tsongas Arena to LeLacheur Park by partnering with major technology companies like Draper Labs that will leverage advanced research being done at the school and provide employment opportunities for students. LINC also includes new housing developments that will allow people to live within walking distance of their jobs. A major component of LINC is the cultural amenities offered in nearby downtown Lowell and the beautiful river-front setting of the neighborhood.