Cogswell Campaign Leaders Seek Letter of Support from City Council

Danielle Smida and Tina Fuller, two members of the Reinvent Cogswell campaign, will update the City Council Tuesday on progress in the effort to turn the closed Cogswell School into a community arts space.

Click image for Haverhill City Council agenda.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. City Council Chambers on the second floor of Haverhill City Hall.

According to Council Vice President Thomas J. Sullivan and Councilor Colin F. LePage, the women are hopeful the council will provide the Reinvent Cogswell group with a letter of support for their renovation efforts.

The supporters of the rebirth of the 100-year-old Cogwell School (pictured) at 351 S. Main St. into a haven for artists have reason to be hopeful that they soon will be able to pay for necessary repairs.

State Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, who represents the 15th Essex District, which encompasses the southwestern corner of  Bradford, announced recently that a $263,000 bond for Cogswell received legislative support in December.

“As with all bond projects, these items must be appropriated by the governor and his administration,” Dean Campbell said. “This funding will be used to assist with an upgrade to the electrical system, which is essential to the functioning of other systems in the building, such as heat and water.”

In October, the campaign received a donation from a fundraising display of local metal sculptor Dale Rogers’ American Dog pieces. Twenty of the 8-foot-tall dogs were set up in Bradford College in late October. Local residents and businesses sponsored the dogs, giving them the right to decorate each sculpture as they chose.