Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell, MA
Boarding House Park is part of the National Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, authorized by Congress on June 5, 1978. The park commemorates the people who worked in the mills in the nineteenth century. Visitors to the park have an outstanding view of the Boott Mills, its clock tower, the Eastern Canal, and one of the original boarding houses, now converted into the Mogan Cultural Center. The park serves as an outdoor performing arts center, a site for ethnic festivals, a green space in the heart of the city, and part of the 5.5-mile city-wide canalway system.
Brown, Richardson & Rowe, Inc.’s, design consists of a forecourt for the Mogan Cultural Center, terraced lawns and seating steps, and a performance pavilion which serves as a theatre and trolley stop. As part of the Brown, Richardson & Rowe design team, William Rawn Associates, Architects, of Boston designed the pavilion. It evokes the ironwork so characteristic of Lowell. Over 100 feet long, the structure’s roof is composed of metal grill work and covered with wisteria vines.
In 1995 the client and the design team received a Federal Design Achievement Award for their work on the Lowell Performance Pavilion in Boarding House Park. The firm’s work on the Park was published in the October 1991 Architectural Record.
