May, 2001
Long Range Possibility:
Seashore in Lowell
By Jim
Schantz, Chair of Seashore’s Board of Trustees
We are overdue on reporting progress on the
potential Seashore branch in Lowell, so this column will cover recent
developments. For those who may not have heard of the project, here is a brief
summary of Lowell’s present trolleys and our involvement:
Lowell is a historic mill city located along the Merrimack River
northwest of Boston. In the 1980s, supported by U. S. Senator Paul Tsongas, a
Lowell native, a National Park was developed in Lowell to celebrate the city’s
rich industrial heritage. Mill buildings were rehabilitated and developed into
outstanding exhibits of the city’s manufacturing past. As street railways played
a major role in bringing thousands of workers to Lowell, the interpretive plan
called for a short trolley line with replica cars to transport visitors through
the park site and to lend authenticity to their experience. Seashore provided
design and historical information for the three cars (two open and one closed)
built by Gomaco, of Ida Grove, Iowa. These cars became the first accurate
replica trolleys built in North America.
Seashore founder Ted Santarelli, plus Dan Cohen, and Fred Perry
actively worked on various aspects of the project, and others lent their help.
In fact the third car, patterned after our Bay State 4175, was dedicated to
Ted’s memory, after Ted passed away just before the car’s completion.
The next major development came in late 1998 as representatives
of the city and the Lowell National Historic Park (LNHP) approached us to
solicit Seashore’s participation in a potential ambitious expansion of the
trolley system. In short, they described extending the line beyond the confines
of the park to serve other venues in Lowell’s compact downtown and to connect
with the commuter rail line to Boston. Of great interest to us, they also
envisioned a trolley museum, to be a branch of Seashore, with our cars operating
in conjunction with the replica cars that would provide regular service.
Additionally, there is an excellent archive facility operated by
the University of Massachusetts at Lowell that could readily be expanded to
house some of Seashore’s extensive library collections. Opportunities also exist
for joint educational programs in transit related fields with both U Mass and
the Lowell vocational schools.
Lowell hosted delegations from Seashore in both January and April
of 1999, and groups from Lowell visited Seashore at several points as we jointly
explored the collaboration. Many valued friendships blossomed as our
interactions continued.
Though clearly this would be a long-term project that could
unfold over a period of five to ten years, Seashore’s board enthusiastically
endorsed entering into a Memo of Understanding to evaluate the feasibility of
this project. Other parties to that document are the City of Lowell, the Lowell
National Historic Park, the Lowell Regional Transit Authority, and the Northern
Middlesex Council of Governments.
What followed through the rest of 1999 and early 2000 was a
series of briefings to build support and enthusiasm for the project. I had the
pleasure of representing Seashore in all of these, and have been joined
increasingly by External Ventures Committee members Roger Somers and George
Sanborn, and by others as the opportunity has arisen. Over the months the
project team met with and presented to the Lowell City Council, the University
of Massachusetts, the U.S. Department of Transportation, representatives of the
Massachusetts Congressional delegation, Lowell’s state representatives on Beacon
Hill, Lowell business groups, Federal Transit Administration, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the Department of Energy, among others. I also contacted
Bill Withuhn, a Seashore friend and Transportation Curator at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington who lent his support and who mentioned the eventual
possibility of the Smithsonian awarding affiliate status for a future Seashore
branch at Lowell.
The key question for the project, as for any major program, is
funding. Both the City and the LNHP have an admirable record of proposing worthy
projects, attracting financial support, and faithfully executing the projects.
As such, they enjoy a very favorable reputation with governmental funding bodies
at all levels. With professional grant writers on staff at both the city and the
park, the expectation has been that the project will be funded by a combination
of transportation, Park Service, and highway funding, as well as any number of
special governmental programs and potential private sources. Though governmental
funding for a museum would normally be difficult to secure, by folding the main
museum facility into the trolley line’s maintenance center, and by incorporating
some other exhibits into LNHP programs, governmental grants might help advance
the museum. Clearly, the overruns in the Big Dig project could limit
Massachusetts sources of funding, but all avenues are being explored.
However, the first step is to find about $270,000 for a full
feasibility study to determine the scope, costs, and overall viability of the
project. Much project activity has focused on this goal. As of this writing,
three or four applications have been submitted for this funding, and there is
hope at least one might be successful by this summer. However, in the mean time,
there have been some important preliminary successes:
Interpretive plan: The LNHP identified
a limited source of funding for a professional study to define the scope and
programs of the potential Seashore branch. We have prepared an initial statement
of our goals and mission for the museum, and a museum consultant has been
engaged to conduct the program. In the next month or so, we anticipate a
workshop with full participation of Seashore and the LNHP’s expert interpretive
staff, to advance this study.
Archives study: Funding may also be
imminent for a similar preliminary study of the archive space that could be used
by Seashore and some other Lowell nonprofits.
Site designation: The Lowell City
Council recently approved a development plan that would place the potential
museum and maintenance facility on the vacant parcel on Dutton Street, just past
the end of the present LNHP trolley line. This site is the most desirable
potential site as it is highly visible along the main artery from the highway
and is directly opposite the wonderful textile museum. More than a century ago
the site featured a railroad roundhouse so the planning concept includes a
recreated roundhouse to house the museum.
A regular Seashore contribution to the trolley project has been
to monitor closely the funding and development of other similar heritage trolley
projects in cities such as Memphis, Tampa, Little Rock, Kenosha, Dallas, San
Francisco, and New Orleans. Even though none of these includes a full museum,
they provide highly relevant examples to help guide us.
What probability of success can we attach to the project? No one
can compute that at this point. Any rail transit project needs to quantify why
the extra capital expense for rail is justified vs. less expensive rubber tired
alternatives. The obvious advantages of recreating authentic history need to be
backed by defensible numbers that show how rail will attract more riders and
investment dollars than buses. These questions have been raised in Lowell and
remain to be answered. As well, the community, government, and business leaders
need to lend their unified support to the plan to encourage the allocation of
funds. A full feasibility study will be the most important next step to define
the rationale for full political and community support.
Though success is not yet assured and a time frame is hard to
estimate, the project possibility justifies our continued participation. The
prospect of reaching new audiences, of finding new sources of volunteers and
financial support, and of interpreting some of our cars in an authentic urban
setting would be an unbelievable additional opportunity for Seashore to fulfill
its mission. Stay tuned for further developments in this exciting project. |
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