Coffey, Dennis 03.09 - University of Massachusetts Lowell Libraries

D: On my mother’s side. That’s right.
A: Okay. And where did you go to school Dennis?
D: Ah, well I went to Saint Margaret’s School in Lowell, (A: Yah) and then Keith
Academy. (A: Okay) And then from there I went to Northern Essex Community
College, (A: Oh okay) in Haverhill, or Bradford at the time. And then from there I went
to Saint Anslim College in Manchester. (A: Okay) And it was there that I took up an
interest in urban affairs and things of that nature. And Bob [Manier] was up there at the
time. He was Professor of Geography, the Chairman of the Geography Department. But
Bob was also I think the Senate President there in New Hampshire, (A: Oh) and very
active in a lot of different political things, and so forth. And he had Jim Minnoch
teaching up there. I think Jim had come from, Jim had worked on, on the Fanueil Hall
Project, and he worked in another project around the country like that. So he had a little
bit of fame and reputation, (A: Yah) and some, more reputation sometimes. But, so Jim
taught some courses up there. So I, although I majored in sociology, I did take some of
the courses in Captain Bob’s department. And that kind of sparked my interest in that
kind of activity.
A: Yah.
D: And from there you know, was able to hook up with some of the planners, and in the
event involving City Development Authority. (A: Okay. And) And Jim I guess, Jim
Minnoch had had some role in the creation of that [unclear].
A: Yah. Yah he was the first director of it.
D: Right. That’s right. And ah (--)
A: Now was he still there when you?
D: No. No, Jim Silk had taken over (A: Okay) at the time that I was hired. But
although I had an uncle, two uncles involved in the city at the time, both Red Ouellette of
course, and Reggie was at the Redevelopment Authority, (A: Yah, yah), or LRA. And
that was being merged into the CDA. (A: Okay) You know I try to avoid those family
ties in terms of getting a job, and I got an entry level job in the Planning Department, (A:
Okay) and it was quite an exciting time.
A: Describe that excitement of (--) There must have been a sense of novelty of this, this
urban planning and the creation of the City Development Authority, which was I believe
the first of its kind in the nation to put all of the different operations, urban renewal
planning, industrial development (D: Right) all under one hat.
D: That’s right. That’s right. It was quite exciting and a unique thing. And of course I
had spoken with Jim Minnoch up at St. A’s, and he was quite excited about it and
advocated for it. And you know, from you know, a young college student to going into
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