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Planning board approves Low Community Charter School gym and community center at Mill 5
Summary
The Lowell Planning Board approved a site plan for a new gymnasium and community center addition to Mill 5 for Low Community Charter School, including accessibility upgrades, material treatments for the street frontage and a revised transformer location per National Grid; approvals included stormwater and utility conditions and a required street‑visible shade tree.
The Lowell Planning Board approved a site plan on June 1 for Low Community Charter School to build a gymnasium and community center attached to Mill 5 at Middle Sex Street, with conditions addressing stormwater, sewer connection sizing and coordination with engineering and fire departments.
Why it matters: The proposal adds an athletic and community facility to an existing school in a downtown mixed‑use zoning district. The project includes accessibility upgrades (a new elevator connecting the mill floors), design work to improve street activation and a stormwater system sized to reduce overflow to the nearby canal.
Architect Lori Kohl's, principal with HMFH Architects, said the design includes a new gym, lobby and community entrance and described material choices intended to activate the street: “We have windows on the portion that's not the gymnasium…so that again that's activated.” The team said National Grid recently asked to retain the existing transformer location, which required adjustments to the drawings; applicants said they are coordinating the final transformer placement with utility staff.
The civil engineer, Matthew Zeroli, described a multi‑component stormwater strategy that includes buried chamber systems and infiltration trenches sized to handle high‑intensity storms and reduce runoff to the canal; he told the board the largest infiltration chamber system will take the majority of roof runoff. The project team said they will confirm whether an existing leaching catch basin has an outlet and, if necessary, will correct any illicit connections per engineering direction.
Board members and staff discussed the gym facade and street presence; the design team described patterned panel graphics and a textured base to break up the gym’s blank wall. The historic reviewer has been engaged; the applicants reported that the design was modified based on historic board feedback and that additional coordination will continue. The team also said the tall smokestack on site will be reduced to about 30 feet above grade for structural reasons.
Conditions recorded at approval require the applicant to obtain a stormwater permit from the LRWW, address water‑department comments on sewer‑connection sizing, and satisfy engineering and fire department comments; the board also added a requirement that at least one shade tree be planted near the corner of Middle Sex and Canal visible from the street. The applicant estimated construction completion “end of next year.”
Next steps: Applicant to finalize transformer placement with National Grid, confirm subsurface drainage connections per engineering direction, secure required permits, and provide final materials and screening details to planning staff.
