Students at GSD Design New Center On Ethnic Heritage

Students in the Graduate School of Design (GSD) are putting their academic skills to a "real world" test in designing a Franco-American heritage center in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Through the GSD Community Assistance Program (CAP) eleven student volunteers from the landscape architecture and architecture departments will analyze the historical influences of French Canadian immigration on architecture in Lowell. They will use the results of their studies to develop a design for the center and then choose an appropriate site in Lowell's National Urban Park.

The Franco-American Center is the first center proposed for the National Urban Park. It will house exhibits celebrating the community's history, as well as classrooms, a library, a crafts workshop, a market and a French-American restaurant.

Ken Paoline, director of the CAP, said he hopes to make Lowell the national center for Franco-Americans.