National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior FINDING AID Lowell Historic Preservation Commission Records 1971-2011 (bulk dates: 1978-1995) Prepared by Margaret Welch, Ami Krawczyk, and Melissa Arnett 2012 National Park Service Catalog Number: LOWE 16552 LHPC Records Cover Images: Map of Park and Preservation Districts and the Fairburn Building, 10 Kearney Square. Illustrations from Preservation Plan, 1980, Photo Box 7, Fldrs 8 and 9. _______________________________LHPC Records -- i____________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................. i COPYRIGHT AND RESTRICTIONS ............................................................................ ii HISTORY .........................................................................................................................1 SCOPE AND CONTENT .................................................................................................4 HIERARCHY ...................................................................................................................5 SERIES DESCRIPTIONS………………………………………………………………7 CONTAINER LIST I. Pre-Commission Records, 1976-1978 ........................................................................13 II. Central Files, 1987-1995 ...........................................................................................13 III. Administrative Files, 1980-1995 .............................................................................21 IV. Cultural Programs, 1980-1995.................................................................................22 V. Planning, 1979-1995 .................................................................................................30 VI. Architectural, 1979-1995 .........................................................................................64 VII. Development Projects, 1979-1995 .........................................................................85 VIII. Publications, 1977-1995......................................................................................113 IX. Photographic Materials, 1977-1995 .......................................................................115 Audio-Visual Materials Separated from Collection…………………………………..116 Photographic Materials Separated from Collection…………………………………...117 Oversize Materials Separated from Collection………………………………………..117 _______________________________LHPC Records -- ii____________________________ COPYRIGHT AND RESTRICTIONS The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The various state privacy acts govern the use of materials that document private individuals, groups, and corporations. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group, or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include: non-commercial and non-profit study, scholarship, or research, or teaching criticism, commentary, or news reporting as a NPS preservation or security copy as a research copy for deposit in another institution If a user later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the user may be personally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement. This institution's permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital, or other copy of a document doesn't indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute, or prepare derivative works from this document without first obtaining permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group, or corporation shown or otherwise recorded. Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell, or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained by the user separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright(or if the creator is dead from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups, or corporations whose name, image, recorded words, or private information (e.g., employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright isn't necessarily the National Park Service. The National Park Service is not legally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for "fair use." This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy or publicity law. _______________________________LHPC Records -- iii____________________________ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Northeast Museum Services Center staff would like to express their gratitude towards the staff at Lowell National Historical Park for their assistance in carrying out this work. In particular, thanks must go to Museum Specialist Jack Herlihy and Chief of Cultural Resources and Programming David Blackburn for all their help. The Park generously provided a processing area, and Administrative Officer Diana Shiba aided greatly in managing the project funding. The assistance of the Park‘s Museum Aide Ami Krawczyk in cataloging the records has been invaluable; special thanks goes to her. _______________________________LHPC Records -- 1____________________________ HISTORY Establishment and Objectives The Lowell Historic Preservation Commission was established in the 1978 legislation creating the Lowell National Historical Park. The Commission was to create a Preservation Plan and to set standards for the historic preservation efforts in the Park zone (part of the downtown, the Wannalancit Textile Company area, and the canal system) and the Preservation District around the Park of over 800 properties. The Commission was to focus rehabilitation efforts on ten historically important buildings mentioned in the Legislation. Another important goal was to aid the Park in telling the human history of Lowell‘s industrial past. The national park concept had been growing since 1968 when Lowell educator J. Patrick Mogan of the Human Services Corporation, a City of Lowell educator, conceptualized an ―urban park‖ in which Lowell‘s citizens celebrated their immigrant pasts and industrial city. Other civic leaders were intrigued with a park‘s promise of tourism and development. The State of Massachusetts developed the Lowell Heritage State Park to promote the canal system‘s recreational and historical potential. In a similar effort, the City of Lowell created a Historic Canal District. The federal Lowell Historical Canal District issued detailed recommendations for a national park; these recommendations were recognized in the Park‘s enabling legislation and became the focus for the Commission‘s activities. Development Projects The Commission was unlike other park partners in that it received yearly appropriations to develop major projects. It had been given the power to lease and acquire properties; in contrast, the Park could only acquire property by gift. The Commission, therefore, acted on behalf of the Park to rehabilitate properties for the Park‘s use, to create a trolley transportation system, and to develop pathways along the canals. The first major project completed was Market Mills, the rehabilitation of two mill buildings abandoned by the owners, for affordable housing and the Park visitor center. The Commission worked with the private developer, Market Mills Associates, to create public green space and a courtyard. The Commission also fitted up the remaining ground level spaces for tenants A Brush with History art gallery and studios, the Lowell Telecommunications Corporation, and a food court. The Commission funded and oversaw the exterior and interior renovations of the Boott Mills Boarding House which became the Mogan Cultural Center, a major Park exhibit space also housing the University of Massachusetts at Lowell Special Collections. The Commission created the Boarding House Park area in front of the Cultural Center. Boott Mills No. 6, now the center for the Park‘s museum operations, originally had been restored for another owner, the _______________________________LHPC Records -- 2____________________________ Wang Laboratories, with funding from the Commission (the Wang eventually sold the building to the Commission which donated it to the Park). The Commission also funded the stair tower renovations for the Boott Mills buildings. The Lowell Historical Canal District Report and the enabling legislation mandated a trolley system to run between the Park's venues. The Commission developed the electrified trolley system consisting of Boston and Maine Railroad rehabilitated tracks and new trolley cars. The first two cars were open-sided and built upon undercarriages from Australia. The electrified system began in 1984 with the Park maintaining and operating the cars. One enclosed closed car for yearlong use was built by 1987. The tracks were extended in two major projects with one extension from French Street to the Wannalancit area and the other extension to Eastern Canal Park and the Jack Kerouac Commemorative. The Commission, along with the Park and state and city entities, participated in what would become known as the Canalway project, the building of walkways and the general enhancement of the canal system. In projects for the revitalization of the Central