Ambitious artist housing project breaks ground in Fitchburg

The city of Fitchburg marks a milestone on Nov. 2 for an artist residence project that's been 10 years in the making. An official groundbreaking ceremony takes place at the construction site that's transforming two vacant schools and a former horse stable. They're right across the street from the Fitchburg Art Museum, where Nick Capasso is director. He's excited for a host of reasons.

“We're rescuing three historic buildings — they were all municipal buildings — so we're putting them all on the tax rolls for the first time,” he said. “And we're planting a great, big flag in Fitchburg that says, 'creative economy, welcome here.”

Capasso remembers when the seed was planted for what's now named the Fitchburg Arts Community. In January 2013, about a month after he started his job at the museum, Marc Dohan came knocking at his door. Dohan, the executive director of a nonprofit, community development corporation called NewVue Communities, asked Capasso if he'd be interested in turning the derelict buildings outside his institution into artist housing. Capasso agreed immediately, and together they began advocating locally for the concept.

Looking back, Dohan recalled thinking Fitchburg would be a ripe location for the creative economy to thrive. “The project takes advantage of the assets that Fitchburg has: its diverse population, great cultural institutions including Fitchburg State University and Fitchburg Art Museum, historic downtown, walkable streets,” he said. “All things that many people in the creative economy like.”

Dohan was also inspired by field trips he went on with his NewVu team and community residents to other cities that had been remaking themselves. “We took several van loads of artists and others to see work in Lowell and Holyoke,” he said. “I also saw artist housing in Connecticut, Providence and Baltimore and I thought that combining art and housing would be a great fit for Fitchburg.”

Now the project is part of a larger, coordinated effort among city and community leaders to reposition the old mill town as a regional center for arts and culture. “Which it once was, when Fitchburg was a thriving community in the early part of the 20th century," Capasso said.

Other recent revitalization efforts include Fitchburg State University's purchase and renovation of the historic Theater Block on Main Street, which received municipal, state and federal funding. “Over the past few years, different entities in the city of Fitchburg have received over $200-million dollars in investment in arts and culture, infrastructure, programming, training, and leadership development,” Capasso said.

The Fitchburg Arts Community is predominantly funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but also received financial support from private foundations and investors. There have been bumps along the way, including a 2016 fire that burned the roof off one of the project's buildings. Now the building is on track to hold 68 units of “artist preference affordable housing.” In addition to one, two and three-bedroom apartments, there will be studio, gallery, rehearsal and performance spaces.

Capasso said a wide swath of creatives will be encouraged to apply. His lengthy list included visual artists, performing artists, stagehands, directors, and technicians, along with graphic designers, product designers, fashion designers, architects, writers, publishers, culinary workers and people who work in cultural non-profits.

“We are really hoping to attract people not only from our local artist community, but also from the very large artist community in Worcester, which is right down the road,” he said, “and also the artist community in Boston, who can't afford to live in Boston anymore.”

Lunenburg photographer Nick Nogueira, 27, plans to apply, and can relate to rising rents. In an email, he said rent increases are getting out of hand. “Especially for us artists who don't work a typical 9-to-5 job with benefits like the rest of Americans. So having this place where all of us can live at an affordable rate, and continue to do what we love everyday, is going to take a lot of stress away.”

Nogueira also thinks the living community will create new opportunities for artists to collaborate with each other, and he believes the project will attract more of them to Fitchburg. “Believe it or not, this city has a lot of amazing artists living in it," he said.  “I think once this residence opens it is going to give us all the spotlight we've always wanted while living in the city that raised us.”

The Fitchburg Art Museum is designing, and will manage, the enrollment process that includes certification for artist preference housing. Capasso predicts they'll begin accepting applications in the spring.

Since early 2023, construction workers have been preparing the old structures and cleaning up the masonry. New windows are going in now, and building out the interior will continue through winter. Capasso said the complex should be ready for occupancy in early 2025.

“We have worked with the city, with NewVue Communities, and with other non-profits in the city over the last ten years to creatively reimagine what this city could be for the 21st century,” Capasso said. He believes the concept is already working. He pointed to the seven new restaurants that will be opening on Main Street in the coming months, and said housing developers are taking advantage of state incentives for transit-related housing because Fitchburg is on a commuter rail line.

“We have proof of concept now,” Capasso said. “Fitchburg is not what it was 10 years ago.”