See below for a question from a resident that I wouldn’t mind an answer to myself. One consideration she doesn’t mention is whether any of the paint could be old enough to contain lead, particularly in the beam crevices. Please share any thoughts or advice in the comments. And thanks in advance!

Does anyone have suggestions on how to remove old paint from the wood beams? Mine have a lot of white paint marks from previous owners, including areas where it looks like they got ceiling paint on the beam, tried to wipe it off, and just ended up leaving a white smear (example photos attached). I haven’t been brave enough to try fixing this for fear of making the issue worse, but we’re repainting our walls and I’d love to get the beams looking better, too. Also not sure if folks ever apply some sort of wood conditioner or oil to the beams, or if it’s best to leave them in their raw unfinished state? 

I tried looking up resources for maintaining antique pine heart wood, but everything I found online was about flooring and trim. Nothing on gigantic structural beams with a rough surface!

The Snow Emergency and Parking Ban are officially over. People parking in the Hamilton Garage have until 7:00pm today to move their cars back to their usual parking spots before incurring charges.

And a little trick about the 1st floor “UP” button for the front elevator. Pressing it gently on the lower right (think 5:00 on a clock face) is much more effective than jabbing it repeatedly, and is kinder to the mechanism.

The city has declared a snow emergency beginning at 4:00pm with a parking ban beginning at 10:00pm. The city offers free parking for city residents at the Hamilton garage behind Canal Place 3 starting at 2:00 pm but NOT at the Leo Roy next door. All cars MUST be out of our surface lot before 10:00pm to facilitate plowing or they risk being towed.

The Association does NOT reimburse parking fees incurred at city garages during a parking ban. Please use the Hamilton garage or another of the free ones listed.

A message from a resident. If you’re interested in any of the items, let me know and I’ll connect you with the owner. (Update: it looks like all three items have found new homes.)

I am looking for a new home for some neglected kitchen gear. There are three items, a Cuisinart bread maker, an Instant Pot, and a pressure cooker (Pictures attached below). I am happy to give them away to someone who will use and enjoy them.

A request from a resident for suggestions. Please answer in the comments.

Looking for an affordable appliance repair person, specifically
dishwasher, instead of buying a new one. Thanks in advance!

When removing your natural holiday tree from the building for disposal, please wrap it in a sheet or tarp to avoid leaving a trail of needles. There is no tree disposal anywhere on Canal Place property! The city has added a new free disposal site within easy walking distance in an odd bit of the nearby Dutton Street parking lot (see map below). If taking a tree for drop-off by car, go left out of our parking lot onto Market, left on Dutton, first left onto Canal St., and the drop-off lot is there on the right.

The city drop-off sites are available until January 14th. Trees should be free of all tinsel, lights and ornaments. For more information and more drop-off sites, check out the lowellma.gov recycling page.

Every so often a resident is pleased enough with a local service to want to post a recommendation. The following suggestions come from individuals and NOT the Association or anyone representing Canal Place officially. EVERYONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DOING THEIR OWN RESEARCH.

From Sally: If anyone is looking for a good dentist, I recommend Dr. Isayev across the street at Simply Dental. Jim and I have been going for several years and are very happy. He is very knowlegeable and skilled. Can’t beat the location. Tell him I referred you.

From Christine: If anyone is looking for a contractor that does both small and big jobs I’ve got a great recommendation. His name is Jason and he owns Yey and Jay contractor Services. His customer service is A+++. He’s always available for phone calls and to answer questions. His subcontractors were also top notch. He just completely renovated both my half bath as well as my full bath installing a beautiful walk in shower.

Again, these recommendations come from individuals, not the condo association. If you’d like more information, let me know and I can connect you with Sally or Christine.

A resident has 3 large cookie tins she doesn’t need and is offering them free to anyone who can use them. Just contact Sally.

When bringing a tree into the building, please wrap it in a tarp or sheet to carry it through the common areas so as not to leave a trail of needles. This becomes even more important after the holidays when carrying a dried, shedding tree out of the building. Please be considerate of your neighbors and clean up any needles you do happen to leave behind.

Following the holiday, the city generally offers a number of drop off locations where Christmas trees can be left for disposal at no charge. Watch for information on the Waste & Recycling page of lowellma.gov. There is no tree disposal permitted anywhere on Canal Place property; you must take the tree to a proper disposal site.

For those who haven’t heard, Mill no. 5 will be shutting down at the end of January when the building changes hands. Folks interested in trying to preserve this unique indoor mall may want to check out Change.org’s petition.

The annual City of Lights parade is this Saturday at 4:30pm. Click this link for a map with info about parking bans and street closures.

Also, a reminder for people to please, please be considerate of their neighbors when it comes to smoking. Numerous systems in this building connect, and smoke from one unit can seep into neighboring ones via the heating/cooling units, the kitchen/bathroom vents, and the fire corridors. Consider opening your window just a bit if you’re smoking inside, or invest in a good air filter, or take it outside for some invigorating, fresh, New England air!

 And there is absolutely no smoking in any of the building’s common areas, including the fire corridors and stairwells, as well as there being a 30 foot no-smoking zone around the building’s entrances.

To see what suggestions have been shared in the past for preventing smoke from traveling unit-to-unit, use the search function on this page and search for “smoking.” Look for the posts with the most comments for input from your neighbors.