Lowell laments loss of local business and events space to make way for charter school

A historic shopping location in Lowell is closing in January as a local charter school expands into the space, officials announced Wednesday.

The Lowell Community Charter Public School, which serves 815 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, received a donation from the Lichoulas family, who gifted the school Mill No. 5 and all of the abutting land surrounding the building. The move allows the school to take over the space where Mill No. 5 — “an indoor streetscape of salvaged storefronts” in a renovated mill building with a movie theater, soda fountain, and farmer’s market — currently resides.

“We are all still recovering from the shock,” Mill No. 5 wrote on Facebook. “Now more than ever we need our community to come out and support our family of small businesses.”

Businesses include the popular coffee shop Coffee and Cotton, the Lowell Book Company, and A Damn Shame Records, a record shop that just opened in July. The space also hosts regular events, bazaars, and arts shows.

“This news unfortunately came to us very suddenly, and because of that we will have to pivot our approach towards finding a new home,” A Damn Shame wrote on Facebook. “We worked our ass off to be here, and we won’t go down without a fight, and we are determined to power through to a bright future.”

Milestone for the school

The donation represents a “transformative milestone” in the school’s plans to build a new Athletic & Community Center, a Student Success Fund to foster programmatic growth, and a Performance Arts Center, the school said in a statement.

“We are deeply grateful to the Lichoulas family for their extraordinary generosity,” Executive Director Nicholas Leonardos said in the statement. “This once-in-a-lifetime donation will allow us to provide enhanced resources and expanded extracurricular opportunities for our students for years to come. This investment in our facilities — a place that so many of our students and faculty consider a second home — will have a lasting impact.”

In light of the donation, the school’s current plan to build a new gymnasium across the street on Middlesex Street, announced in September, will be put on hold, the statement said, as school leaders pivot to build the new gym and community center on the grounds of Mill No. 5. 

Grades four through eight have been housed in the lower floors of Mill 5 since the school was founded in 2000, according to Leonardos.

“The donation now affords the school the opportunity to consider moving our remaining spaces, including the main office, and grades K1-3 which are located in the neighboring Mill 6 building, into Mill 5 over the next few years,” Leonardos told Boston.com.

‘No longer sustainable’

However, Mill No. 5 owner Jim Lichoulas said he is “heartbroken” that the mall will have to shut its doors at the end of January 2025.

“The losses at Mill No. 5 are no longer sustainable and have had a direct impact on our family and ability to continue as is,” Lichoulas wrote in a letter to tenants. “Unfortunately, despite everyone’s best efforts, we continue to have a negative cash flow and it is not sustainable beyond January.”

Leonardos said he recognizes the impact the acquisition will have on businesses currently operating on the mill property and is working with city officials to “explore permanent solutions that benefit both the business community and the city of Lowell.”

“While we recognize that any potential relocation may not replicate the unique experience of Mill No. 5, we remain committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive approach during this transition,” Leonardos said. “To this end, LCCPS will be reaching out to each shop owner in the coming days to discuss opportunities moving forward.”

The mall will remain open throughout the holiday shopping season and locals have been encouraged to support its local businesses.

“This is a story of another business getting struck by the aftermath of the pandemic,” Lichoulas said. “We’ve never been able to recover.”

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Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, reporting on breaking news, crime, and politics across New England.

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