HISTORY

The Building

The Sun Building is a ten-story early 20th century steel frame and reinforced concrete skyscraper and its design is a reflection of the Chicago background of its architect, Clarence Blackall.  The building was conceived and executed as a showpiece for the Lowell Sun’s successful, very up-to-date newspaper operation that was founded in 1878 and was originally located at the corner of Prescott and Central streets.  The planning and design of the building took two years with actual construction taking an additional two years.  The building replaced an earlier Sun building on the site which was a typical red brick Greek Revival commercial building built ca. 1848.  It was demolished in the spring of 1912 for construction of the present building.

The Sun Building was not completed until spring 1914 but the newspaper moved (from temporary quarters) into its part of the new building, on the lower floors, in December, 1912.  The building was equipped with the latest features designed to provide comfort, convenience, and safety to the newspaper’s employees and to tenants in the offices above.  The Sun’s “mammoth sextuple lightning press” was installed in the basement, in a waterproof concrete pit which ran down to bedrock to minimize vibration, even when run at the highest speed.

The Sun’s editorial and business offices were located on the ground floor while two ground floor storefronts provided commercial rental space.  The Sun’s editorial suite was located on the top floor.  The newspaper’s offices were lavishly appointed and fireproofing was emphasized, with all drawers made of metal.  Original art in the Sun offices was painted by John Coggeshall with one large canvas including Pawtucket Falls while another was a view of the mills from the Central Bridge.  The Sun also had a pneumatic tube system for transmission of editorial copy which also connected to a system which automatically lettered bulletins for display behind glass, on either side of the main entrance.

The rental spaces above the Sun offices contained no wood, except for doors, to provide the ultimate in fire-proofing.  For the same reason, all of the floors were of reinforced concrete.  The sprinkler system and fire escape were also designed to attract tenants and perhaps ease fears of being trapped by fire in a tall building.  All offices boasted window space and the U-shaped building was designed with an interior elevator shaft contacting two Otis elevators “…as smooth as airships.”  Rental office tenants were also enticed with a built-in vacuum cleaning system, noiseless doors, electric lighting and telephone connections, and odorless bathrooms.

The Sun’s operations moved to a nearby building in the 1960s while the Sun Building continued to be used for rental offices as late as 1976.  It was converted to senior housing in the late 1970s.

The Architect

The architect of the Sun Building was well chosen to design Lowell’s tallest and most up-to-date building of the time.  Clarence Blackall (1857–1942) was trained at the University of Illinois and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. He was influenced by Chicago architects such as Louis Sullivan and Burnham and Root whose stylistic trends are reflected in the Sun Building.

 As Lowell’s first steel frame commercial building and a prototypical skyscraper, Blackall designed the Sun Building with Louis Sullivan’s classical divisions on the exterior with a two story “base”, a distinct “shaft” that rises above it, and a crowning “capital” with a neo-classical entablature, cornice, and parapet. A veneer of yellow brick with granite and marble trim covers the façade.

A noted architect, Blackall also designed the Lowell Memorial Auditorium (1922) as well as Boston’s first steel frame building, the Carter-Winthrop Building (1894) on Washington Street and many theaters including Boston’s Colonial (1900) and Wilbur (1914) and Foellinger Auditorium (1907) on the campus of the University of Illinois. Along with New York architect Thomas Lamb, Blackall was considered among the foremost theater architects in the country and also established a reputation as an expert on fireproofing.  His fireproofing expertise is highly evident in the design and construction of the Sun Building.

The Roof Signs

Absent when the Sun Building was completed in 1914 were the twin neon “SUN” roof signs. The signs were not installed until sometime in 1934 as has been determined by research into period newspapers and other materials. The advertisement shown to the right for “the office address of distinction” is the first record of the signs being in place on the roof of the building and dates from December 20, 1934.

The February 1, 1937 edition of the Lowell Sun boasted that the “signs on the Sun Building roof contain the largest neon letters in Middlesex county.”

In addition, prior to the erection of the signs, the roof was home to a weather station that provided hourly temperature reports and was installed in July, 1933. “Installed on the roof…of the highest point in Lowell, the new weather gadget is a standard automatic recording thermometer of the type given official approval by the United States weather bureau.” It was “properly housed to give correct hourly readings.”