Category Archives: Downtown

Central Street Projects to begin AUGUST

Posted on August 2, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

Two projects will be beginning very soon in close proximity to each other…

1.Repairs to crosswalks/sidewalks at Central/Middlesex/Gorham (yeah!). The work is expected start this week and take 6 weeks to complete. CM’s office says work will be done at night and advertised in advance” through the city web site, SUN and neighborhood groups. I do not yet see any information on the city web site. I will post any information as I get it on this web page and our Facebook.

2.Back in June you may recall there was a meeting held by ENEL to provide information about the Central St. bridge construction that will begin approx. August 22nd and is expected to take 4 months. Daily construction hours will be 7AM to 5PM however there are portions of the work that will have to be completed during night time hours. Below are a few slides from the presentation. I have emailed the entire presentation to LDNA members. I will likewise post on any updates.

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Posted in Cobblestones, Downtown, Downtown Lowell, Street Construction, Traffic

Lowell police probing Riverwalk sex assault

Posted on July 9, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

If anyone was out on the riverwalk Friday morning…please call LPD if you may have seen this person.

LOWELL — Police are asking for the public’s in tracking down a man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman Friday morning while she was jogging on a walkway near the Aiken Street bridge.

Lowell police Capt. Jack Webb said the woman was jogging along the Lowell Riverwalk at 9:30 a.m. when her alleged attacker dragged her away from the walkway and proceeded to sexually assault her.

Webb said she managed to later run away and sought help from another pedestrian.

The suspect is described as a white man, between 18 and 25 years old, with dark hair and no facial hair. He was possibly wearing dark pants.

Webb said the woman received medical care but added that the case is still under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lowell police at 978-937-3200 or Crimestoppers at 978-459-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent to police via Text-a-Tip, by texting TIP411 (847411) with the subject, LPDTIP

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Posted in Community Problems, Crime, Downtown, Lowell Police Department

Annual Neighborhood Clean-Up Day

Posted on April 29, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

Saturday April 30th 9AM (or join in any time)
Meet at Mack Plaza

THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU
to all the volunteers who helped!

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Posted in City-wide Clean-up, Community Gardens, Downtown, Downtown Lowell, Lowell High School, Parks

Downtown Lowell is for sale

Posted on April 27, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

According to the SUN…downtown properties will soon be available. FINALLY!
I have a really optimistic outlook that having these properties on the market will create some great new business opportunities. Let’s hope for the best. There are some really great locations on this list (assessed value is also noted).

“Nearly a dozen properties owned by the heirs of the late Louis Saab are on the block, said his younger brother, Thomas Saab”. Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_17938728#ixzz1KkEVrvdO

198 Central St., $423,500
39 John St., $246,400
53 John St., $23,800
26 Merrimack St., $1,228,000
61 Merrimack St., $261,500
72 Merrimack St., $506,300
101 Paige St., $184,100
147 Central St., (Saab Building), $1.3 million

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Posted in Downtown, Downtown Economy, Downtown Lowell

Spring Clean-Up

Posted on March 21, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

The Lowell Downtown Neighborhood Association is planning a spring clean up for Saturday April 23, 9 AM to Noon – focusing on Mack Plaza, the Victorian Garden and Dutton St. The city will be street sweeping later (where there is no parking).

Keep Lowell Beautiful is providing brooms, shovels and rakes. They have some gloves. Please bring your bags for trash. We compost leave in the Victorian garden. KLB has some clear bags for recyclables.

If you want to borrow brooms and shovels for your area, let me know. KLB may be able to help. The City will pick up bags on Monday if they are accessible to a dump truck. Don’t over fill the bags they have to be throw up onto the truck which is about 6 feet up. Try composting the organic material and bag the trash.

Stephen Greene
greenesh@comcast.net

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Posted in Community Gardens, Community Issues, Downtown, Fundraiser; Keep Lowell Beautiful

Lowell High Students Populate Google Earth

Posted on March 16, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

Photo by Evangelea Voraphonh

What happens in the neighborhood when no one is looking? I found one thing that is worth sharing. One of the threads in the fabric of our neighborhood, police officer/photographer John Boutselis, teaches an after school photography class at Lowell High (who would have known?). Students use downtown as the backdrop for their work and recently submitted photos on Panoramia and many were posted by Google Earth. Here is the link to the photos: http://www.panoramio.com/user/5650923
When you click on the photo the students name is down on the right hand side of the page.

I am really impressed with the students work and like most of us who live here I often miss the specific details of what I pass by everyday. I know that I am going to stop and take a closer look at each of these locations now. I also think that this after school program acheives many things. Students are learning an artistic skill; gaining appreciation for their city and the details that make it an interesting place and having an opportunity to share it with the world on Google Earth. Interesting, cool and educational.

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Posted in Arts, Downtown, Downtown Lowell, Education, Lowell High School, Photography

Expanding Voter Participation

Posted on March 9, 2011 by ldna | Leave a comment

Cliff Krieger has a summary of the CC Rules subcommittee meeting that I attended last night with a group of people Greg Page had asked me join to discuss ways to increase voter participation and gather ideas, suggestions about how to insure all residents of Lowell are represented by our city council.
http://right-side-of-lowell.blogspot.com/2011/03/expanding-voter-participation.html

The city council voted to create a Charter Committee made up of representatives from each of the nine active neighborhood groups. Each neighborhood representative will hold meetings within their neighborhoods to discuss how the city can encourage more voter participation as well as looking at options to encourage more people to consider summing for city council. Things as simple as physical boundaries to getting to the polls or as Councilor Mercier mentioned, possibly change the times or days of the week we hold elections. The point is to gather a variety of suggestions from the general public.

Thanks to Greg for giving me an opportunity to work on something I feel is important to all of us. Secondly the group requested that the city council appoint one representative and one alternate from each neighborhood group. Since I feel that LDNA needs a voice other than mine…I know you will all be competing for a place on this committee. It is not a huge commitment likely one meeting per month for the next 12 months. For the sake of efficiency I would like to suggest that we dedicate a portion of each LDNA meeting to the subject.

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Posted in City Council, Community Issues, Downtown, Elections, Neighborhood Organizations