Officials at Lowell (Mass.) High School are expressing frustration after a new 36,000-square-foot, $400 million athletics center — the most expensive facilities project in the school's history — has been plagued with problems since it opened in 2022.
According to WBZ, city councilor Corey Belanger said at a meeting this week that the Riddick Athletic Center has had ongoing maintenance issues that have been consistently ignored.
The center has seen everything from broken bleachers, elevators and leaks to “simple things like door handles falling off or not being repaired or shot clocks that won’t work for basketball games,” athletic director Scott Ouelett said.
“This has gotten out of hand. We need more frequent walk-throughs, progress on what’s going on, what’s been fixed, where we’re at with the project instead of this freelancing method that is not working,” Belanger said.
The four-phased rebuild/renovation project was approved in 2016 and broke ground in 2020. Phases 1 and 2 consisted of new construction and have been completed, including the Riddick Athletic Center and the five-story Freshman Academy. Phases 3 and 4 involve the renovation of the existing 1892 Coburn Hall, 1922 and 1980 buildings. The entire project is expected to be complete by the summer of 2026.
“It seems like I want the 80s gym back rather than the gym I’m looking at right now,” councilor John Descoteaux said. “That’s how bad it is over there. We’re going down the wrong path here, folks.”
The Lowell City Council called on the City Manager office to further investigate the issues.
