Kerouac Center Coming to Life

It’s been talked about for years, and in the works since 2022, but the Jack Kerouac Center in Lowell looks to finally be coming to fruition. The Church has been purchased by Country Music star Zach Bryan, in collaboration with the Kerouac Estate, and now appears to be on track to opening. Its plan as more than simply a museum to a local author gives hope that it can be a lasting option for both the Kerouac Estate and downtown Lowell. A look across the country to Salinas, California can provide a glimpse of the potential for this historic name and landmark.

Several years ago on a work trip to California, I stopped at the John Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Similar to Kerouac, Steinback had a style and genre that catapulted him to literary fame. Also similar to Kerouac, despite his fame, his namesake museum didn’t open until several decades after his passing due to funding issues.  Additionally, Salinas can draw comparisons to Lowell both as a town rooted in a blue collar past (agriculture) that is still attempting to reinvent itself, and by the way it sits in the shadow of Silicon Valley in the same manner that Lowell sits in the shadow of Boston.

Local specialty museums can be a tough sell, especially when limited to a finite amount of work from a bygone era. To counter this, The Steinbeck Center took the approach of being a living, event laden museum. As a result, it has become a thriving focal point of downtown Salinas.

The museum is complete Stenbeck. Visitors start their self-guided tour in a theater which introduces Steinbeck, his works and the museum. Visitors then wind through different rooms dedicated to different periods and themes of his work. These rooms include audio and video components and life-sized replications of the people and places of his works. This, as mentioned previously, is finite. It’s the events that keep the center relevant. The Steinbeck Center states that the vast amount of its effort, time and resources are placed into events including author promotions, literary education, community outreach and live performances. 

Looking at the plans for the Kerouac Center, there appears to be a similar formula. Saint Jean Baptiste Church is a massive building, and Kerouac's works were both fewer and more limited in reach than Stenback’s. However, the plan includes the dynamic, living aspects that will keep new and existing visitors streaming through the doors. Also like the Steinbeck Center, the Kerouac Center won't be a standalone building that people will travel to for the sole purpose of a museum stroll. The Saint Jean Baptiste Church sits in a reinvented section of downtown already being populated with trendy consumer options from shopping to brew pubs. A brew after a live performance, a latte before a reading, a walk through town between an afternoon at the museum and dinner? Why not?   

The formula appears to be in place, and now the money is as well. Like so many of the cities we once defined, Franco America has struggled to reinvent itself. Incorporating our heritage into modern entertainment themes and trends can allow us to be both recognized, and to thrive. The Kerouac Center is on track to do that, so let’s lead the charge to Lowell. Allons-Y!