Jack Kerouac Center in Lowell launches fundraising campaign

LOWELL — A local foundation has unveiled architectural renderings and begun an artistic fundraising campaign for the Jack Kerouac Center, which will be located in the former St. Jean Baptiste Church on Merrimack Street.

“This is about creating something worthy of Jack and the extraordinary influence he continues to have on writers, musicians, artists and readers around the world,” said Jim Sampas, the literary executor of the Jack Kerouac Estate and CEO of the Jack Kerouac Foundation.

Plans for the center include museum and exhibition spaces, a 1,500-capacity performance venue, an intimate 125-capacity lower-level performance space, recording and media facilities, educational spaces, archival research, a bar and restaurant, spaces for community gatherings and creative programming and a dedicated home for significant Kerouac materials. The renderings were designed by Boston-based Flansburgh Architects.

“The plans preserve the historic character of the church while creating a dynamic new cultural destination designed to bring Kerouac’s creative spirit into the future,” the foundation said in a statement.

Mosaic fundraiser

The foundation said that a Jack Kerouac Center Picture Mosaic will be created from thousands of individual photographs submitted by supporters that together will form a larger portrait of Jack Kerouac.

“Once completed, the mosaic will become a permanent installation inside the Jack Kerouac Center, making everyone who participates a lasting part of the center and its history,” the foundation said.

The photograph at the heart of the mosaic is being donated through the Tom Palumbo Estate.

Fundraising options for the mosaic range from $50 to $75, and include photos, personalized text to the mosaic and a T-shirt.

The shirts are part of a limited-edition merchandise collaboration between the Jack Kerouac Estate and singer-songwriter Zach Bryan to support the creation of the center.

Kerouac’s life in Lowell

Kerouac was born in Lowell in 1922, lived on Linden Street in the Pawtucketville neighborhood, frequented the Royal Theater in the Acre, became a writer, set many of his works in Lowell, and is buried in Sampas’ family plot in Edson Cemetery.

The Romanesque Revival-style church was built in 1896 and served the French-Canadian population in the neighborhood. The historic building dominates the corner of Merrimack and Aiken streets, in the heart of the Acre neighborhood lovingly known as “Little Canada.”

The building, with its massive gray granite exterior and soaring interior space, was the spiritual home of the Kerouac family where Jack Kerouac served as an altar boy. The church was also the site of his funeral service when he died in 1969.

From spiritual home to community space

The church opened in 1890 and was deconsecrated in 2004.

That same year, the City Council voted to extend the Lowell Downtown Historic District, which then ran just behind the church, to include the former church. Doing so made demolition far more unlikely.

Brian McGowan, owner of TMI Property Management and Development, bought the building from the Archdiocese of Boston in 2006, and it has been largely vacant ever since.

The foundation, which was created in 2022, sought a deal for the property from TMI to establish the Jack Kerouac Museum and Performance Center in the 20,439-square-foot space, but efforts stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic and funding issues.

At that time, the expected renovation and rebuilding costs were estimated to be $15 million.

Beat Generation meets country music

The multiplatinum, Grammy Award-winning singer Zach Bryan purchased the property from McGowan in 2025, in a deal that reportedly closed for $3.4 million.

Earlier this year, Bryan purchased the original draft of Kerouac’s “On the Road” book, which Kerouac wrote on a single 120-foot-long scroll, for a record $12.1 million.

The goal is for that and other Kerouac-related items to be displayed in the proposed center.

Today’s estimated cost is least $25 million to fund the entire project.

“This year, the center issued [request for proposals] for construction partners and has now narrowed the process to a group of finalists as the project moves closer to the next phase,” the foundation said.

Kerouac’s influence in Lowell

The Jack Kerouac Commemorative plaza was dedicated in 1988. Located in Kerouac Park on Bridge Street just one block from Downtown Lowell, the commemorative contains excerpts from Kerouac’s writings.

Each October, the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival illuminates his local influences and explores his enduring impact on music, art and literature.

This year’s 38th festival, to be held Oct. 8-12, features tours of Kerouac’s influences, readings, discussions, films and music recognizing the city’s most famous homegrown author.

“Jack Kerouac was a novelist and poet of French-Canadian ancestry born in Lowell, Massachusetts,” event organizers said. “He is best known for ‘On the Road’ (1957), a novel that captured the restless spirit of the time and continues to inspire readers, and for his pioneering role in the literary subculture he dubbed the “Beat Generation.”