Lowell CPC Recommends Nearly $2 Million for 11 Preservation and Housing Projects

LOWELL -- March 5, 2026, Lowell's Community Preservation Committee recommended $1.99 million in funding across 11 projects at its March 5 meeting, with all awards heading to the City Council for approval expected in May. Working from a pool of just over $2 million, drawn from a gross fund of roughly $2.77 million after debt service on Raleigh's Farm, the six-member committee faced more than $5.5 million in requests and awarded every applicant a partial share. The largest awards went to the city's Affordable Housing Trust at its full request of $310,000, St. Anne's Church at $300,000 of a $401,125 ask, and the Veterans Building acquisition at $300,000, with All Wheels Welcome receiving $300,000, exactly half of its $600,000 skate park proposal covering three city park locations. Mass Mills Phase 4, the long-stalled boiler building redevelopment tied to a closed section of the Merrimack riverwalk, received $125,000 of an $803,522 request, with a project representative noting that a construction start is unlikely before 2027. The committee spent substantial time debating whether funding the Affordable Housing Trust should effectively transfer future housing oversight away from the CPC, with one member stating flatly, "I don't think we need to abdicate our responsibility in this for housing."