The crowning touch has gone up on the former Raymond Sewing Machines building on Yarmouth Street.
A few weeks ago, the building’s owner, Tom Lammer, president of the Lammer Group of Companies, brought in a sign painting company to recreate the classic “Raymond Sewing Machines” sign high up on the front of the building.
On Thursday, Ken’s Crane Service was on the site, hoisting a decorative bell tower up to the roof. The feature was also part of the original sewing factory architecture.
The building was converted to an apartment building with a commercial main floor many years ago. A fire in April, 2015, caused an estimated $1.5 million in damages to the building, and left it vacant for over a year.
The architecturally unique structure was renovated inside, and had a decades-old addition on the exterior demolished earlier this year.
Lammer has said previously that the renovations offered the opportunity to rejuvenate some of the building’s history, which the addition of the sign and bell tower achieved. Both features were added based on an old photograph of building.
Lammer said buildings often lose some of their heritage features when they are renovated and repurposed. He wanted to put some of those features back into 31 Yarmouth St.
The building has 16 apartments, and is fully occupied. Plans are in the works for the ground-floor commercial space.
The bell tower was purposefully made of cedar so that it would age in a manner reminiscent of the original.
