BONJOUR! LOWELL SENDS DELEGATION TO MONTREAL
Cross-cultural exchange seeks ideas for downtown revitalization
LOWELL >> Mayor Sokhary Chau said his whirlwind trip through Montreal, Canada, was an amazing and eye-opening experience.
“Montreal is a big, beautiful and dynamic city,” Chau said by phone Saturday from his Highlands home, shortly after returning from a three-day cultural exchange facilitated by the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce. “I’m excited to share everything I saw and learned with the residents and administration of Lowell.”
Chau was part of a six-member delegation that included City Councilors Corey Robinson and Paul Ratha Yem, Mosaic Lowell co-chair Howard Amidon, Lowell Public Schools Chief Equity & Engagement Officer Latifah Phillips and Ineabella Domingues, who works in City Manager Tom Golden’s office.
The group arrived in Montreal, Canada’s second-largest province after Toronto, on March 8 and spent the next few days learning about the city’s regional approach to downtown revitalization while maintaining a strong historic and structural composition.
“There are many things in Montreal that are similar to Lowell,” Chau said. “They have a Winter Festival and they have the Points of Lights.”
Finding a cross-border connection isn’t hard for a city that saw waves of French Canadians emigrate to Lowell to work in its textile mills. From 1860 to 1900, around 31,000 French Canadians came to Lowell, making Le Petit Canada, located in the Acre, one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the United States.
Most of Little Canada’s distinctive three-story tenement buildings were lost to urban renewal projects beginning in the 1960s.
This trip, though, wasn’t
about looking back, but about looking forward.
“I recognize that Lowell and Montreal share many similarities, and I would like to understand how Montreal was able to revitalize and grow its downtown district into what is now a thriving food, culture and music market,” Chau said.
Montreal, which dwarfs
Lowell with its almost 2 million residents, shares physical similarities such as canals and cobblestone streets, and cultural attractions like festivals, galleries, murals and boutique businesses.
The city, said Chamber President and CEO Danielle Mcfadden during a presentation to the City Council in February, is “known for being charming yet modern.” She hoped the visit would “spark creative ideas and best practices that we can bring back to the Mill City.”
The group met with Tourism Montreal in the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal to exchange ideas, with a focus on learning new strategies for economic development and creating a vibrant, walkable downtown.
The delegation explored the Jean Talon open-air market at which vendors sell produce, meats, cheeses, fish and baked goods that rivals Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall and Haymarket.
In a statement, Robinson marveled at Montreal’s diverse,
international flavor, that he believed could be modeled in Lowell to “continue moving our city in the right direction.”
That street-life energy also made an impression on Yem, who represents the Acre. He said in a statement that “Montreal is a vibrant city where businesses are flourishing everywhere you look and this is what I like and hope to see in Lowell.”
Another thing the two cities share is a slogan. Lowell’s is “Alive. Unique. Inspiring,” while Montreal,
in keeping with its Francophile roots, is “le salut par la concorde,” which translates to “well-being through harmony.”
Chau said that although he was glad to be home in time to watch the Umass Lowell River Hawks men’s basketball conference game, he said he enjoyed the Montreal trip. At the Tuesday council meeting, Chau said he will suggest the body form a committee to explore goals to improve the overall vitality of the city, as well as focus on
neighborhood economic development.
Trotting out his crosscultural language skills that he practiced in Montreal, Chau signed off the call with the reporter with, “Au revoir, madame.”
The City Council meets in the second-floor chambers of City Hall, 375 Merrimack St., on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. To speak at a meeting, contact City Clerk Michael Geary before 4 p.m. the day of the meeting at 978-674-4161 or mgeary@ lowellma.gov.