Lowell Historic Board certifies Mammoth Road Firehouse for preservation funding

LOWELL -- October 20, 2025, Lowell Historic Board unanimously certified the former Mammoth Road Firehouse as historically significant, clearing the way for a Community Preservation Act funding application to rehabilitate the 1891 building into housing. The board voted to declare 93 Mammoth Road significant as the first Queen Anne-style firehouse built in Lowell and one of only two surviving examples in the city, the second being on Lawrence Street; board administrator Steve noted the project proponent previously rehabbed a surplus fire station in Centerville. In a separate informational session, architect Matt Langis of Scott Brown Architects presented conceptual plans for a five-story, 38-unit residential building on a currently vacant lot at 22 Herd Street, situated between the former St. Paul's United Methodist Church and the old Elks Lodge, both now part of the UTEK complex. Board members praised the design's fit with the downtown streetscape but directed the team to return with contextual renderings alongside the adjacent church building, a more developed Warren Street rear facade, and a rooftop mechanical screening plan ahead of a formal hearing. Steve also reported the city's restored Sun Sign is ready for a public relighting event October 27 at 6:30 p.m. on the LMA plaza.