Left In Lowell

On tonight’s Council agenda is an item from the City Manager recommending the merger of the Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL) and the Special Events office of the City.

The Lowell Sun has a great editorial endorsing the idea and explaining the why and the wherewithal of this recommendation, which comes from the Mt. Auburn Associates report on our cultural assets. It recommends that an expanded central office for events and marketing would strengthen many of the city’s smaller cultural groups, by giving them one place to go through for those needs. This would give an expanded role to COOL and Lynch is recommending LZ Nunn, its director, to head up the new office.

From the Sun:

The proposed merger involves no additional cost to the city but is expected to pay dividends in increased marketing, improved coordination and help to extend events to include more of the downtown. One example is next weekend’s Winterfest, which for the first time will have musicians strolling through the downtown helping to encourage visitors to stop into area shops and restaurants.
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We agree with Lynch’s recommendation. Nunn is well-respected throughout the city’s cultural groups, has marketing experience and has already been striving to increase Lowell’s marketing reach to attract visitors from an ever-widening circle.

Streamlining has been a big priority of Lynch’s since he got into office, and this strikes me, as someone who’s been a part of some of these organizations who plan events, that what is lacking is a central place to turn to for marketing. It’s also like when, say, a president creates a new cabinet position; it gives greater access to the top levels of government and priority for that person’s role in government. If we want to become a premier cultural center in New England, a destination city, we need to make cultural assets a priority and make use of our resources smartly and efficiently.