Excited About Lupoli Project

LOWELL -- I first met Sal Lupoli a few years ago when The Sun did a major special section on his spectacular Riverwalk Properties development in Lawrence.

Lupoli was an easy interview. You only have to ask him one question. He takes over from there.

He has a great story to tell and he tells it well.

Sun Editor Jim Campanini and I had lunch with Lupoli at his Lawrence office a few weeks ago to get a preview of his plans for the redevelopment of the Thorndike Factory Outlet building in Lowell.

He quickly proved he hasn't lost his touch, as he outlined his hopes and dreams for the Lowell project.

He is proud of all his developments, but clearly wants this to be a showcase because it's a gateway project in that abuts his hometown, Chelmsford.

This will be a different project for Lupoli. He is a guy who gets totally into a project. He likes to get things done quickly. In Lowell he has another layer of bureaucracy to deal with, an historic board.

Lupoli is a doer. He doesn't like delays.

This will be fun to watch.

The story and photos in The Sun last week certainly outlined a pretty attractive development, so hopefully reason on all sides will prevail.

As the story indicated, Lupoli sees this as "an iconic vision for Lowell." He hopes to blend the old and the new. He will preserve the mill era look and blend in a new modern view.

His plan enhances the vision of City Manager Kevin Murphy, who wants Lowell to be seen as a college town and a high-tech community.

I would not bet against Lupoli pulling this off.

The guy, who as a kid always wanted town a pizza shop, now owns a chain of shops, a few upscale restaurants and has become one of the largest developers in Massachusetts.

Since I last spent some quality time with him, he has also gotten a Master's degree from MIT and won a seat on the Chelmsford School Committee.

He is proud of his hometown and its school system. When the system was going through a difficult period he felt he should get involved.

Along with the help and cooperation of others, the school system appears to be back on track.

Another reason for our visit to Lupoli was to see if he could get Chelmsford to put a student team in the Sun-sponsored regional knowledge bowl. The regional bowl was launched several years ago by Campanini who named it in my honor. 

It showcases the academic skills of middle-school students in the area.

Lowell, Tewksbury, Dracut and Tyngsboro have participated from the start and we hope to add Chelmsford this year.

The regionals will be held in June.

If you attend you will be pretty impressed with the work being done in area public schools.

Business Section  •  April 3, 2016  •  The Lowell Sun  •  Original Article