Race Street flood victims still waiting to come home
LOWELL >> Last November, a 12-inch water main burst beneath the street in the area of Father Morissette Boulevard, spewing millions of gallons of water into several neighborhood streets in the Acre, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
All residents eventually returned home, except for the multigenerational family who resided at 34 Race St. The deluge poured into their enclosed porch, flowed down the first-floor hallway and into their basement for several hours until Lowell Regional Water Utility workers were able to shut down the main.
Julee Sok, her husband,
Phillip Luy, their 22-yearold son, Peter, a sister-inlaw and Sok’s 88-year-old mother remain in temporary housing. The family’s insurance denied coverage for the damage.
The gas and electricity to the home was disconnected, and it remains without water. A red sign posted on the front door reads, “WARNING: This Building is unfit for Human Habitation.”
The City Council will consider their plight during its meeting at City Hall tonight. City Councilor Vesna Nuon’s motion requests a report from City Manager Tom Golden on the status of the property.
In other business, the council continues to honor notable Lowellians during Black History Month.
Lura Smith will receive a citation from Mayor Sokhary Chau and the body. Previous recipients this month have been community activist/advocate Mona Tyree and Tracy Mitchell, a former Lowell High School Red Raider basketball star who went on to play four pre-season games for the Boston Celtics.
Smith was the assistant to former Middlesex Community College President Carole Cowan. She and her family founded Living the Dream in partnership with Middlesex Community College Foundation, an event which honors Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of social justice and equality.
At the 24th annual event held to commemorate King’s Jan. 15 birthday,
MCC President Phil Sisson described Smith’s impact on the national holiday in the city.
“President Ronald Reagan announced (in 1983) — after some trepidation — that this would be a national holiday,” Sisson told the packed audience at the Richard and Nancy Donahue Academic Arts Center in Downtown Lowell. “In the city of Lowell, it was a holiday, but it wasn’t a celebratory holiday until Lura Smith stepped up to make it so. She and her husband Robert, and their family are tremendous stewards of Martin Luther King’s dream, but also the commitment to students of color getting the education they deserve in this city.”
He closed his remarks by telling Smith that, “We are