PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Kevin Hart, left, Mike MacDonald and Mike Fromer take direction from James Marsh while moving a lamp post at the Lynn Public Library.
BY THOR JOURGENSEN
LYNN — They sat in the public library’s cellar for decades where they gathered dust.
That is, until workers, under the watchful eyes of city officials, hauled two ornate street lamps into daylight and sent them to be restored.
Each weighing 400 pounds and cast more than a century ago, the lamps will be returned to the base of the library’s front steps facing North Common Street this fall. A three-man crew from Lynn-based Flannery’s Handymen collected the lamps Thursday and drove them to New Stamp Lighting in North Easton for restoration.
“They will do a thorough cleaning, rewelding and rewiring,” said Michael Murray, Community Development assistant facilities manager.
The city will spend $5,700 to refurbish them. But Murray said that is a fraction of the estimated $50,000 cost for replicating the lamps.
“They belong out front,” said library trustee Judith Weber.
“They are irreplaceable. It’s just the right thing to do.”
The lamps have been stored in the library cellar next to a brick furnace since the night 30 years ago when thieves wrapped a chain around one of the lamps and drove away. Chief Librarian Theresa Hurley said police interrupted the escapade. But one of the lamps lost a light fixture arm while being dragged down the street.
Amateur research work by the trustees undercovered the lamps and set them on the road to restoration. While they were hidden in a dark subterranean corner, the lamps captured the trustee’s attention during a library tour.
“We found out they were the original Renaissance-style lights,” said James Marsh, Community Development director.
Hurley quickly turned the restoration into a crusade and admitted she pestered Marsh into making the restoration a priority.
The lamps are not the most expensive project undertaken in the library in the last 20 years. The building’s big windows were restored and its electric system was modernized. In a nod to the social media age, Hurley said plans call for adding additional electrical outlets to provide convenient power for phone chargers and laptops.
She said the library has several old photographs from the last century showing the lamps aglow in front of the library.
“It will be very exciting to bring them back to their original home,” Hurley said.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at tjourgensen@itemlive.com