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After nearly 80 years in the dark, 23 Church St. lit up Friday following the restoration of historic lights on the exterior of the Art Deco-style building.
Around two dozen residents gathered on Friday night to watch the debut of the lights, which were originally installed in 1936 after the Cambridge Gas and Electric Light Company purchased and developed the property for its showroom and office. The lights outlined the perimeter of the storefront, illuminating a display of kitchen and electrical appliances.
Sold to the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1947, the building currently houses the church’s Christian Science Reading Room and Rodney’s Bookstore. According to Charles M. Sullivan, executive director of the Cambridge Historical Commission, the lights went out sometime around the mid-century transfer and remained that way until Friday.
While working on a book in 2015 about historical architecture and development in Cambridge, Sullivan came across photos of the outside and inside of the Church Street property and noticed the light installation. Seeing the photos sparked a plan to restore these historical lights in the modern day.
“Wouldn’t that be great someday to restore the lighting?” Sullivan recalled thinking.
Sullivan then approached R. Elliott Reinert, the manager of the Church Street building, about the prospect of bringing the lights back to life. In 2022, with the building needing maintenance repairs, Reinert thought the time was ripe for a lighting restoration.
“When I saw how the building had been architecturally designed and to have these strips of light that really complete the building, either by day or night, it was sort of a dream,” Reinert said.
“I never thought we’d really be able to do it, but it seemed important to me because of beautifying the neighborhood,” he added.
Sullivan said that finding a company to take on the task of restoration was difficult due to the challenges of working with old technology.
“This is highly specialized work. There’s nothing off-the-shelf about any of this hardware,” Sullivan said. “This kind of project was designed by an architect in 1936 using technology at the time.”
Eventually, Poyant Signs took on the project and restored the historic lights using modern-day LED technology.
Sullivan and Reinert feel that the project will not only restore a piece of the building, but will restore some of the life on Church Street — which had been lost due to the longtime vacancy of the historic Harvard Square Theatre and the anticipated closure of The Dough Club later this month.
“I think it’s going to enrich the Square,” Reinert said. “When the lights are turned on, it’s certainly going to light up — unfortunately, with across the street so uncared for — a brick wall.”
“This brings some vitality for that end of the street and connects us better with the end of the street, where there’s lots of lights,” he added.
Doreen Kelly-Carney ’85, a Cambridge resident who attended the lighting, said she remembered when more people visited the street while the Theatre was still open during her time at Harvard.
“I think it changes the whole street because it’s been a sad little stretch here for too long,” Kelly-Carney said of the lighting.
“This feels like a comeback for Church Street,” she added.
—Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at jaya.karamcheti@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.
