Organizers Envision ‘Cogswell Club’ as Business and Philanthropy Group Helping Nonprofits

Haverhill City Counci President Timothy J. Jordan. (WHAV News file photograph by Jay Saulnier.)

As the Cogswell ArtSpace gets closer to becoming a reality, the Haverhill City Council heard Tuesday about a new fundraising plan, the brainchild of one of their own members.

Councilor Timothy J. Jordan explained his idea for something called the “Cogswell Club,” a plan geared toward getting businesses to help support the proposed art facility.

“Thinking about the Cogswell project, could we try to get the business community in Haverhill, and other individuals, to step up and help close out this project and get that great art space open for what we know it’s going to be?” He asked during the planning process.

To that end, Erin Padilla of Creative Haverhill, the nonprofit developing that center, described the benefits club members would receive.

“Members would collectively name one of the whole rooms at Cogswell and their names would be listed within that room. We’re planning on having an art installation in the grand hallway, so members from this club would have an individual art piece that would be named after them,” she explained.

Padilla said the club, like the art center and former school, honors philanthropist George F. Cogswell. It already has 10 members who have made $5,000 donations as well as eight others who have donated lesser amounts. To date, she said, the club has received donations totaling $59,000. She also reported over the past month, the project has received donations doubling the amount raised in the previous seven years.

She said she attributes those increases to people and agencies that care about this community.

“It includes WHAV, featuring that article from last week and, right after the article was posted, we had donations coming in. We got 10 other donations yesterday that was clearly because of that article,” she said.

Jordan added while this year, the Cogswell Center would be the recipient of these donations, he envisions the Cogswell Club concept would expand to other worthy nonprofit agencies in future years as well.

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