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Lowell Athletics & Activities Foundation donates $100k for Cawley Stadium locker rooms

LOWELL — The recently formed Lowell Athletics & Activities Foundation is already making good on its promise to help turn the Cawley Stadium athletic complex into the state-of-the-art facility its founders believe the city deserves.

On June 8, the young nonprofit presented the City Council with a $100,000 donation, to be used to renovate the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms at the stadium.

The check was presented during discussion of an approved motion put forward by Councilors Daniel Rourke and Bill Samaras — who were instrumental in the formation of LAAF — requesting the council name the locker rooms at the stadium after John Blake Galvin Jr. following the renovation.

“There’s no individual who I know of in the city who represents the excellence in sports and athletic activity more than Blake Galvin, and think it is with great honor that board member Christopher Dick and I would like to present something in honor of Blake to the city,” LAAF Chairman Matt LeLacheur told the council. “Through the strong fundraising efforts of the foundation, with a special thank-you to Jim Herscot from Princeton Properties, who has been very instrumental in this, we would like to offer a $100,000 donation to support this effort and the renaming of the boys’ and girls’ locker rooms at Cawley Stadium.”

The announcement was met with applause and gratitude from city officials, including City Manager Eileen Donoghue, who thanked them for their donation and said it will “make a big difference for… all the kids that use the locker rooms at Cawley Stadium.”

Mike Kuenzler, who spoke on behalf of Galvin, said he was “one of the truly gifted athletes to grace the gridiron for Lowell High School.” The 1983 graduate went on to have “stellar careers” at both the collegiate and professional levels, he said, winning awards at Boston College before playing in the National Football League.

From 1988 to 1991, Galvin was a standout special teams player for the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings, Kuenzler said. Since he returned to Lowell in the mid-2000s, Galvin, now a senior sales executive at Worldcom Exchange Inc., has given back to the city in many ways, including being one of the founding members of the Lowell Junior High Football program, he said.

Rourke, who is a coach with the free program, said it gives kids who otherwise can’t afford to join a league a chance to play. He said Galvin, who is also involved with the local Salvation Army, “consistently gives back to the kids and families of Lowell.”

As former headmaster of Lowell High, Samaras said he often had to call upon people for various fundraising efforts, and Galvin was always there to contribute in some way. He said Galvin has “showed by hard work what you can do,” in his athletic and business careers, and in how he’s supported the community.

Samaras and Rourke said they are excited and optimistic about what LAAF and the city working together can accomplish. Samaras said interest has been quickly growing in the community and there are many people who are looking to contribute to the effort to make the Cawley complex a “showpiece” for Lowell.

“I think it’s a true public-private partnership that the city and the group have,” Rourke said. “It’s a talented group of people working towards a goal, and that was the first step you saw Tuesday.”

Rourke and Samaras said a golf tournament, also in Galvin’s honor, is being planned for later this summer to raise the rest of the money for the locker room project.

“I know based on the commitments we already have, it’s not going to be a problem,” Samaras said.

The renovation of the locker rooms cannot occur until the city determines the status of the grandstand, which was found to have a crack that may impact its structural integrity, and makes any necessary repairs. As part of the city’s five-year capital plan, Donoghue has set aside $200,000 in fiscal 2022, which begins July 1, for infrastructure upgrades at the Cawley complex.