Strengthening 'town and gown' in Fitchburg
PHOTO/MATT VOLPINI
Destaré Martini Bar on Fitchburg's Main Street, and a coffee house downstairs, Chaibo, are among businesses popular with FSU students that have opened in the past several years.
New president Richard Lapidus wants FSU students to feel comfortable in the city.
Even before he showed up on campus to start his new job in mid-July, Fitchburg State University's new president, Richard Lapidus, had met with major local players such as Mayor Lisa Wong and Roy Nascimento, president and CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. Lapidus said the conversations tended to center on the relationships between the institution and the community that his predecessor, Robert Antonucci, had helped forge during his 11 years leading FSU.
“A lot of the conversations were about established relationships and these entities seeking assurances that it was my intention to develop and enhance them,” Lapidus said.
Antonucci's legacy in tying the university to the city takes a very visible form along North Street, the corridor connecting the campus with Main Street. Over his tenure as president, the school bought several run-down properties on the street and relocated buildings there. A capstone in this effort is a new CVS store being built on the corner of Main and North streets as a result of a collaborative effort between the university and the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority.
Chris Iousa has had a front-row seat to changes in the relationship between the city and the FSU student body. He started Destaré Martini Bar on Main Street in 2007 and followed that up with Chaibo Coffee House downstairs three years later.
Years ago, Iousa said, he heard that FSU freshmen were warned not to go downtown for safety reasons. Now, he said, the university encourages prospective students to stop in at Chaibo while they're researching the school.
“It's changed dramatically over the past two to three years,” he said. “We've seen, from our side, a little bit more of a symbiotic relationship.”
Downtown Fitchburg, with its profusion of dark storefronts, has long had a somewhat sketchy reputation among North Central Massachusetts residents. That makes it a priority for FSU to ensure that the neighboring streets are welcoming.
“Students coming into Fitchburg from whatever direction they're coming from are going to see the city,” Lapidus said. “It's important they feel comfortable. It's important they feel safe. It's important they have a chance to do things beyond the confines of the campus.”
The university's entanglement with the city and the region go far beyond its immediate neighborhood. FSU is the largest non-municipal employer in Fitchburg, with 511 full-time employees. It's also, of course, a major source of new recruits for the region's employers.
Nascimento, the chamber CEO, noted that the university has been part of economic development initiatives, including the North Central Massachusetts Economic Development Council. It's also been involved in efforts to promote the local creative economy. In his conversation with Lapidus, Nascimento said, they talked about revitalizing the university's work on local economic and policy research.
In 2009, FSU created the Regional Economic Development Institute with financial support from Fitchburg-based Rollstone Bank & Trust and Simonds International, with the mission of providing data and analysis concerning the region's economy. Over the last couple of years, though, REDI's research efforts have slowed. The university is now rolling it into the existing Douglas and Isabelle Crocker Center for Civic Engagement, which encourages collaboration between university students and local community groups and businesses.
More collaborative opportunities
Nascimento said he'd like to see the university and local businesses collaborate more in research and development, technology commercialization and trade shows for advanced manufacturing and other area industries. Of course, work with local businesses on internship opportunities and workforce development also remain strong areas of interest for the university and the business community.
“The former president did a phenomenal job there, and we're very excited about the new president,” Nascimento said.
Wong, who is finishing her last term as mayor since she's not seeking reelection, said that, even though they will only have a brief overlapping period in their respective positions, she and Lapidus hope to get new projects off the ground before the next mayor takes office.
Already, Wong said, the university is working with the city in a number of ways, including hosting a class on public policy that invites local elected officials to give guest lectures. She said Lapidus responded well to these kinds of ideas.
“He seemed very excited about all the things we have going on between the city and university right now and made a very strong verbal commitment,” she said.
Wong said the new CVS on Main Street, scheduled to open in the fall, should draw more students downtown to make quick purchases they otherwise would have to drive to get.
“We anticipate a lot more foot traffic,” she said.
Business background
FSU has also launched other kinds of collaborative efforts in recent months. In early April, the university announced a new criminal justice concentration offered in conjunction with the state's Municipal Police Training Committee. The program lets students complete bachelor's and master's degrees and complete police academy training in five years. Later that same month, FSU and the Fitchburg Art Museum reached an agreement to offer free admission to the museum for the university's students and staff, offering consultation and support for the museum from FSU, and establishing plans to collaborate on cultural festivals and projects.
One reason local leaders say they have confidence in Lapidus is his strong business background. Before taking the reins at FSU, he spent six years as dean of California Polytechnic University's College of Business Administration.
“As the dean of a business school, I saw it as my job to create and facilitate relationships between the college and the community,” he said. “And as president I see that job as similar if not larger because now I'm obviously responsible for all of the disciplines.”
At just a couple of weeks into the job, Lapidus said, “my direct activities have really been just trying to match names and faces.” But he said he expects building bridges beyond the university to be an important part of his job.
“I think that the mission of public institutions is to create the workforce for the state, to try to create win-win situations where the community can come in and take advantage of the resources that exist on the campus, and, at the same time, we're growing leaders so we want the students to be out there and be given opportunities to hone their skills.”
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