| History : Lowell
History : Bibliography
: Park Brochures : Related
Links The Rebirth of Lowell
By the 1960s Lowell’s
glory days were far in the past. The city was hard pressed economically, and promising
young people were leaving their hometown. Those who stayed were ambivalent about
their history, recalling the hard conditions under which their parents had worked.
With little sense of a worthwhile heritage, many were ready to erase the past
and start over. There were even proposals to fill in the city’s most distinctive
landmarks—its canals—in order to create more downtown real estate.
In the early 1970s
a few people with vision, political know-how, and business sense stepped forward
with plans to revitalize Lowell. Educator Patrick J. Mogan insisted that any revitalization
of the city should be based on its industrial and ethnic heritage. This was the
soul of the city—and not incidentally, a key to its economic salvation. Through
the efforts of Mogan and others, the city undertook its rehabilitation. The Human
Services Corporation and other community organizations worked with the Lowell
Plan, the Lowell Development and Finance Corporation, and business and banking
groups in a partnership to guide the city’s revival.
After years of study
and debate on Mogan’s proposal to make Lowell a new kind of national park
based on labor and industrial history, Congress established Lowell National Historical
Park and the Lowell Historic Preservation Commission in 1978.
Arguing for the
park legislation, then Congressman Paul Tsongas, a native of Lowell, defined the
idea behind the park:
Twelve years
ago Lowell decided that its identity was important. Important to its people and
the Nation. There are hundreds of people who should be credited for discovering
this America. Many workers…wanted the good and the bad of the past preserved,
rather than flattened and denied.
The first steps
were modest, starting with the renovation of small downtown buildings. The movement
quickly gained momentum, benefiting from a new public appreciation for industrial
architecture and a belated realization that preservation should embrace working
class history and culture. Lowell has once again become a place that is visited
by planners from other cities, and even from other countries, who want to follow
Lowell’s example of using public-private partnerships to bring new life to
their communities.
|
