Baker signs off on Lowell high school
Project to cost $340M
Gov. Charlie Baker has signed off on Lowell’s plan to put a new, $340 million high school on conservation land in the Mill City.
The Legislature earlier this month passed a home-rule petition that would pave the way for the city of Lowell to build the high school on the site of Cawley Stadium, instead of building downtown where the old school sits. Baker, who had until Monday to act on the petition, signed off on it Friday evening.
The authorization says “the city of Lowell may transfer from the care and custody of the board of parks certain parcels of land ... to the care and custody of the school department for the construction of a new high school.”
Because the plan would take conservation land, it requires state approval, and Lowell must create new recreational space to match what it would lose.
The Legislature approved the plan with only one dissenter — state Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord).
Lowell’s City Council voted to support building a new school at Cawley Stadium after a contentious back-and-forth last month. The 5-4 decision came after more than six hours of debate with dozens of citizens on both sides addressing the council.
The issue has been a divisive sticking point for Lowell residents for nearly two years. When it finally went to vote, 73 residents signed up to weigh in — with some warning councilors that they would be held accountable for their vote during the next election later this year.
The vote also drew the attention of political heavyweights. A week before, U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas wrote a letter pushing for the city to rebuild on the existing downtown site instead of building at Cawley. Tsongas lives near Cawley, and the letter was also signed by University of Massachusetts President Martin T. Meehan, who used to live in the same neighborhood.
Tsongas called for renovations to the existing 1920s high school downtown because it’s “centrally located with generally equidistant access for students across the city’s many neighborhoods.”
The options were narrowed to a $352.2 million renovation of the existing high school or a new $340 million building at Cawley Stadium, which would require more bus service. The project, which will be partly reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, will be one of the state’s most expensive high school building projects.