вЂњBut when I listened to what the staff, the students, and teachers were talking about, I left thinking вЂThis is not gonna work downtown,вЂ™вЂќ she says. Last fall, she attended a lengthy community meeting about the school proposal, thinking the downtown renovation was a fait accompli. SheвЂ™s the mother with a daughter playing volleyball for Lowell High. In fact, some Belvidere residents have voiced their opposition to the Cawley location over the prospect of increased traffic in their neighborhood. They believe the Cawley site would require too many students from the cityвЂ™s less privileged neighborhoods to spend an inordinate amount of time on buses. Though the Save Lowell High group already had enough certified signatures, Potwin was hoping to add more вЂњto demonstrate that this isnвЂ™t just a squeaker,вЂќ he said.ДЇor the couple, who moved to Lowell from Waltham seven years ago, the issue of the school location is вЂњa social justice issue,вЂќ Potwin said.

вЂњWeвЂ™ve seen how much has been spent on renovation downtown, and it just keeps falling apart,вЂќ said Kim Little, who wore a pink custom-lettered T-shirt that read вЂњMom for CawleyвЂќ at a recent event called the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race.ДЄs crowds cheered on people riding wacky bicycles outfitted to look like sharks and hamster wheels вЂ“ LittleвЂ™s twin 11-year-olds were part of a team of students and faculty from LowellвЂ™s STEM Academy that designed one of the mobile sculptures вЂ“ Gary Potwin and his wife, Ruth, roamed the downtown streets collecting signatures for the ballot measure. One parent mentioned that her daughterвЂ™s volleyball game was recently canceled because of a leaky roof. They cite the need for asbestos abatement in the older buildings. вЂњHaving worked real hard to provide those opportunities, it would be ridiculous to put the facility out on the periphery, in another town, almost.вЂќД«ut Cawley supporters point out that the current high school site, used in various configurations for nearly 200 years, has been renovated before, and still presents challenges. The city center вЂњprovides offerings to Lowell High School students you donвЂ™t often get in suburban - and a good number of urban - environments,вЂќ Gallagher says. There are museums and galleries, colleges, the main branch of the public library, a new community health center, and many other resources in the immediate vicinity. Lowell National Historic Park is right across the street, he says. вЂњThereвЂ™s a вЂcampusвЂ™ feel that has been developed downtown.вЂќ вЂњIвЂ™ve spent a lot of years working to develop programs, services, after-school opportunities, and internships in the downtown,вЂќ he says. For him, the core argument about the best location involves вЂњequity and accessibility.

Mike Gallagher, a Lowell attorney, former member of the School Committee, and longtime advocate on behalf of various social services in the city, is the committee chairman of the Save Lowell High campaign.

In either case, the new Lowell High School is destined to be the biggest, most ambitious school project in state history.

вЂњCawley is a blank slate, most easily designed to meet the education plan,вЂќ he says.ДЄ new high school at Cawley Stadium (where Lowell High SchoolвЂ™s Red Raiders host their home games) will cost about $336 million to $339 million with reimbursements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority resulting in a price tag of about $149 million to the city.Д«y contrast, the plan to renovate and add to the current downtown location, including the acquisition by eminent domain of an adjacent office building, carries a higher price tag at $353 million, but would cost the city less - $143 million - after reimbursement from the MSBA. вЂњEducation is really too important in our family to send to his entire high school career in a construction zone,вЂќ he says.Д«ut Nelson, a commercial real estate developer whose parents taught in the local school system for decades, also believes the Cawley option offers the best long-term potential. For him, the prospect of his young children attending the high school during a major renovation and rebuild is his primary reason for supporting the Cawley option. Eric Nelson, a cofounder of Citizens for Lowell, a political action committee that supports the proposed new construction at the Cawley location, graduated from Lowell High School and went to Harvard University.

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