The Future Park

Image from proposal by Raytheon Corporation to the City of Lowell Printed in the Lowell Sun, 1973.

Center for Lowell History

The planning and building of Lowell’s first mills, and later the park, were acts of confidence, optimism, and imagination.

The people of Lowell continue to pursue innovative projects and stewardship, including the Lowell Heritage Partnership’s Waterways Vitality Initiative, the revitalization of Kerouac Park funded by MassDevelopment with a crowd-sourced match, and the park’s upcoming re-invention of the Immigrants exhibit.

The successful future of the city and the park depends on the next generation of stewards with drive and vision like that of Patrick Mogan and Paul Tsongas. We encourage you to forge your own connections by enjoying your visit, learning something new, taking care of this special place, or helping shape Lowell’s future. You will find many opportunities to participate such as voting, getting involved in community activities, volunteering at the Lowell National Historical Park or Lowell Folk Festival, interning with park staff, or assisting with the upkeep of the landscape and artwork.

 

Will Winslow envisioned a future Lowell in his acrylic painting, Lowell National Historical Park circa 2100, as he explained:

Lowell was chartered in 1826 with a population of 2,500. In 1836 it officially became a city and the population had jumped to 18,000. Today it is over 100,000 and the bricks that formed the mills on the canals that harnessed the power of the Merrimack River are still with us, transformed from work places to residences.

Who knows, perhaps the brick of the future will be recycled plastic shaped by 3D printers instead of clay fired in a kiln.

 

Mark Fisher provides this artwork (Future Lowell 1902 Poster, 2018) and artistic statement for his interpretation of the future park:

For my vision of Lowell’s Future I chose to look to the past.

Imagine if when President Theodore Roosevelt visited Lowell in 1902 he was so impressed with the city’s historical significance that he declared Lowell a “National Treasure to be preserved and honored.” He then invoked the Antiquities Act, which he did often and in doing so he designated parts of downtown and the mills a National Park. What would the citizens back then envision for Lowell’s Future? The image I have created is a whimsical travel poster of the period promoting a visit to the Future City.

Of course my scenario is made up but fortunately 76 years later areas of Lowell were designated a National Park. Who knows maybe someday we will have Air Trolleys.

 

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