{"id":26581,"date":"2020-01-22T18:24:14","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T23:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2020\/01\/22\/st-annes\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:46:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:46:33","slug":"st-annes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/01\/22\/st-annes\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Encouraged to Attend Forums Exploring Feasibility of Cultural Center in Lawrence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A Catholic Church in Lawrence that has been empty for more than two decades may become a community cultural center, and organizers are looking for your input.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex Community College<\/a> and the City of Lawrence are working with The Paramount Development Group to explore the possibility of restoring and revitalizing the historic St. Anne\u2019s Church and St. Anne\u2019s Parish Hall located on Haverhill St.\u00a0\u00a0 The partnership has recently engaged Don Hirsch Design Studio, LLC, a theatre consulting firm, to create a comprehensive plan for the restoration and sustainable operation of the center.<\/p>\n

The first step will be a series of community forums that are free and opened to the public. \u00a0\u00a0The goal of the forums is to discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead and how the center may best contribute to the Greater Lawrence community.\u00a0 Forums will be held\u00a0Tuesday, January 28 6:00 \u2013 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, January 29, 8:30 \u2013 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 \u2013 3:30 p.m. and Thursday, January\u00a030, 12:00 \u2013 1:30 p.m., 2020 at the Northern Essex Community College Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common Street, Lawrence, MA, Room 301.\u00a0 To reserve a seat at one of the forums,\u00a0contact Don Hirsch Design Studio, LLC at\u00a0info@donhirschstudio.com<\/a>\u00a0 or\u00a0 802-233-9623.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could be a great addition to Lawrence, and, if it\u2019s financially feasible, the college wants to be a part of it,\u201d said Lane Glenn.\u00a0 \u201cRight now, there are few options in Lawrence to hold cultural events, and many organizations that are interested in bringing in talent and speakers, including Northern Essex.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Anne\u2019s Parish was one of the earliest French-Canadian parishes in New England.\u00a0\u00a0 It opened in 1873 and was closed by the Archdiocese of Boston in 1991, due to a decline in church attendance and membership.\u00a0\u00a0 It continued to serve a Latino Roman Catholic congregation in the early 1990\u2019s and the Parish Hall was used for an after-school program until approximately 1999.\u00a0 Since then, the building has been vacant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Catholic Church in Lawrence that has been empty for more than two decades may become a community cultural center, and organizers are looking for your input.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":26583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCommunity Encouraged to Attend Forums Exploring Feasibility of Cultural Center in Lawrence - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/01\/22\/st-annes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community Encouraged to Attend Forums Exploring Feasibility of Cultural Center in Lawrence - 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