Middlesex Community College (Massachusetts) - History

History

The college was founded in 1970 in leased buildings on the grounds of the Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Massachusetts. Starting in 1972, the college also leased space at the former Marist Preparatory Seminary, off Springs Road in Bedford. A third campus in Burlington, Massachusetts opened in September 1981 in a former middle-school building. In 1988, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts bought the Marist property for the college; new prefabricated buildings were erected there, and the renovated Bedford campus opened in 1992.

In 1987, Middlesex opened a temporary campus at the Wannalancit Mills complex in Lowell. To establish a permanent Lowell campus, the college purchased a six-story corporate training center at Kearney Square from Wang Laboratories in 1990 and relocated its Lowell activities there in 1991. The Wannalancit Mills buildings then came under the management of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. In 2004, the college expanded into a former federal office building across the street from the MCC tower. In April 2008, the college acquired a former Boston & Maine railroad depot in Lowell, for future use by performing arts.programs. As of December 2008, the college has acquired the Smith Baker Center, a former church, and will be sharing it with UMass Lowell.