Lowell's Hamilton Canal District Development

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bostononian1979

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Lowell is in the process of rebuilding and developing a huge parcel of land compromised of skeleton's of it's once industrial center. All the while keeping the existing architecture of mills while incorporating modern design. This will add an additional 5 acres to the downtown which has been in a revitilization since the early 90's - condos/lofts/restaurants/bars/clubs/Umass dorm and a variety of small shops - deemed a National Park. The new project is going to connect downtown with the Gallagher Transportation Terminal - a shovel ready/smart growth district that will also be the home to new court houses. The project is well underway - $800 million and estimated completion time is 2018.
http://www.hamiltoncanal.com/
The developed is Trinity Financial - whose resume of urban landscape is impressive.
http://www.trinityfinancial.com/
 
This is a much overdue redevelopment for Lowell and will definitely change the face and outlook on the city. Trinity has a great vision of the future of Lowell and are taking charge with this one.
 
BostonYoureMyHome said:
This is a much overdue redevelopment for Lowell and will definitely change the face and outlook on the city. Trinity has a great vision of the future of Lowell and are taking charge with this one.
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Absolutely - there has been some delay, particularly with the court houses. However, this area is a huge construction project - cranes galore. There is already buzz down there particularly in the new Early garage that has already been constructed. There is already a couple of nice restaurants, and business's are starting to expand into this area. This will almost double the size of downtown while connecting it to the Gallagher terminal commuter rail to North Station. 800 new units of housing and 100's of thousand of square feet of retail/restaurants/commercial real estate. When the new court houses are complete - that is a constant flow of foot traffic (not criminals, but state workers/lawyers/etc.). They just need to get rid of that homeless shelter - it's an eyesore filled with sex offenders.
 
BostonYoureMyHome said:
And maybe eventually Lowell will live down this documentary...

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The old "High on Crack Street"...very depressing. Actually could have been filmed in any city the size of Lowell in that time frame. The director was associated with Lowell - that is why he chose the city. Lowell has done quite well with the recent influx of filming - "The Invention of Lying", and "The Fighter" have brought some Hollywood to the city. Unfortunately it is tough to get away from the "High on Crack Street" reputation - but eventually this will happen. Just to think of it - you could do "High on Oxycontin" in just about any community within 15 miles of downtown Boston these days...
 
these developments are really attractive. Good work for Lowell, and good thread!
 
palindrome said:
these developments are really attractive. Good work for Lowell, and good thread!
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I read a Manchester, NH thread on this same type of thing and had to incorporate Lowell's progress. Far outreaches any old mill town in NE...these other satellite cities should take a look at Lowell and see the progress. It also helps that the politicians from Lowell have some real clout at Beacon Hill, and Washington. I would also like to point out Umass Lowell's nano-technology center, and it's other developments into these old mill buildings. Lowell has had a bad rap, and some of these developments have stalled due to the economic downturn. However, in the big scheme of things within 10 years the city will - and already has - tranformed itself. The city is forming it's own identity - preserving these huge structures of the past while incorporating modern achitecture/design.
 
From the website:

The National Park Service currently runs a tourist trolley system that terminates in the Hamilton Canal District. A feasibility study is currently underway which is reviewing the potential expansion of the streetcar system through the Hamilton Canal District with connections to Downtown, the Tsongas Arena, LeLacheur Park , the UMass Lowell campus, and the Gallagher transportation terminal.
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http://www.hamiltoncanal.com/access.aspx

Is this actually a possibility?
 
The best thing Lowell could do to reconnect this part of the city would be to remove the underpass of Thorndike Street under Appleton and Middlesex streets. Is this part of the eventual plan?

Perhaps the unnecessary interchange could be replaced by a handsome circular park with some sort of monument in the middle.
 
Shepard said:
From the website:

http://www.hamiltoncanal.com/access.aspx

Is this actually a possibility?
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Yes. This is absolutely possible. The street cars already bypass that section of the city, and go by all of those other areas. If they connect the street car system, which I am pretty sure is part of the big picture - it would add a sense of the old mill town connected with the new vibrant hamilton canal district. They've already secured approximately $800 million for this project - and when complete the downtown will essentially be doubled in size. Not only are they preserving historic Lowell - they are creating a moderneized smart growth downtown that will connect to public transportation. This project is fully underway - and when complete Lowell will have a positive identity of it's own - unique - old with the new.
 
Ron Newman said:
The best thing Lowell could do to reconnect this part of the city would be to remove the underpass of Thorndike Street under Appleton and Middlesex streets. Is this part of the eventual plan?

Perhaps the unnecessary interchange could be replaced by a handsome circular park with some sort of monument in the middle.
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They are already in the process of improving that section near the Gallagher Terminal. They are currently excavating portions of the sidewalks - and will eventually have a pedstrian friendly walk way to the terminal.
 
BostonYoureMyHome said:
Trinity is pushing hard to make the street car happen.
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When Trinity successfully completes this project it is going to boost there resume to a whole new level. I'm not downplaying there existing/past projects - but this project is a whole different level. It is essentially transforming 5 acres of dilapitated mill buildings and incorportating it into the existing portion of downtown Lowell. It will be a template for cities across the region/country and Trinity's name will be all over it.
 
Has anyone produced maps of how the streetcar route would look?
 
Shepard said:
Let me google that for myself:

http://www.volpe.dot.gov/nps/docs/lowell.pdf
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The trollery basically wraps around the Hamilton Canal district. They would probably have to add an dditional 1/2-1 mile of track...which I cannot imagine would be that expensive. Ideally they want to connect it to the Gallagher terminal. I imagine to keep this green they could use hydro-electric power from the canals/river, but the city doesn't own the rights to produce the energy. That would be pretty damn efficient - and cost effective/profitable.
 
I imagine to keep this green they could use hydro-electric power from the canals/river, but the city doesn't own the rights to produce the energy. That would be pretty damn efficient - and cost effective/profitable.
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Building a hydroelectric damn to run a small trolley line? I'm guessing it wouldn't be that cost effective.
 
AmericanFolkLegend said:
Building a hydroelectric damn to run a small trolley line? I'm guessing it wouldn't be that cost effective.
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Alot of this infrastructure is in place already...my point might have not come across appropriately. They could use hydroelectric power to provide power to this portion of the city...just a thought.
 
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