Plans to renovate and expand Lowell's high school could make it the most expensive school building project in Massachusetts with a price tag of $344 million.
Lowell High School is currently housed in a historic 1920s building downtown. It's in desperate need of repairs and expansion to keep up with the more than 3,500 students it serves.
Lowell City Council is considering a
few different options, one of the least expensive being to build a new campus on an open space at the edge of town. It would be next to Cawley Stadium, which is already used by students for football, soccer, and lacrosse events.
For some parents, that makes perfect sense: it's cheaper, includes room for expansion, and wouldn't require kids to study in portable buildings during construction.
Eric Nelson is a lifelong resident of Lowell and a third-generation graduate of Lowell High School. He's also a member of the group Citizens for Cawley, which supports the new campus option. Nelson believes a multi-year renovation project with extensive modular classrooms isn't a conducive learning environment for his children.
"If you can put a brand new campus right off of the highway with great interstate access at no disruption? That's a no brainer," he said.
But a large group of parents think the no brainer is keeping the high school where it is so students can walk to school each morning. The disagreement seems to break down along demographic lines, between affluent families near the new site and those closer to the city.
Jackie Doherty, a member of the Lowell School Committee, says the school has to stay downtown to serve the city's most needy kids.
To me, moving the school to the literal outskirts of the city...I think it would be a real detriment to that population.
"Seventy-five percent of our students are at or below the poverty level. Many of those students live in the neighborhoods within walking distance of the downtown," Doherty said.
Whichever option Lowell City Council chooses, the price tag is set to break records with the state picking up two-thirds of the bill.
"Go to the seaport district or downtown Boston, you can see, there's a lot of activity. I think it's just the economy and where we live, compared to if you look at a school being built down in the Midwest or in Florida," Caldwell said. He added that working with an old building, such as the one that currently houses Lowell High School, is also a challenge.
