And now for something a little different. Old mills having been dangerous places, I’m sure there were lives lost in this one, but this is the first time I’ve gotten a question like this. I can say up front that there has been no unexplained weirdness in my own unit (although some of my previous homes were another story), but if anyone has any haunted unit stories to share, please feel free to post in the comments.

From a resident: I have kind of an unconventional question that I feel a little silly asking. I’ve always joked that our unit is haunted, but we’ve had more and more unexplainable things happen that have been creeping us out. Doorknobs locking themselves, things falling off shelves unprovoked, sensations of being grabbed, vivid night terrors that only happen when we’re home, which our guests have experienced as well. Most recently on our security camera we saw a white orb-like thing fly across the screen. So we’re curious if anyone else has experienced weird things like this in their unit too. 

If anyone is interested in making some extra spending money, Lowell has recently raised the pay for poll workers. My understanding is that there’s a pretty widespread shortage, although I’m not sure what the application deadlines are for spots working the September 6th or November 8th elections. For more information, check here.

As mentioned earlier, our polling location has changed. We are Ward 4, Precinct 2, and will be voting this year at the Rogers School gym, 43 Highland Street (near South Common). Hours for all polling locations are 7:00am to 8:00pm. There is more information about important deadlines here.

Early voting began yesterday and is running all week at the Lowell Senior Center on Broadway. The times are 8am–8pm today through Thursday and 8am–noon on Friday. More info can be found here.

When leaving boxes in the cardboard dumpster in the basement, please, please break them down and flatten them. It only takes a minute and makes a huge difference in managing the dumpsters.

It’s probably worth noting here that, for cost and logistical reasons, this building does not have a recycling program. That said, a number of folks take their recyclables to the drop-off bin at the DPW on Middlesex Street. This needs to be done during DPW business hours so they can unlock the bin for you. Click here for more info. (Personally, I adore this bag for that purpose. Ours is still going strong 10 years after we bought it.)

Also, I’ve updated three of the Neighbor to Neighbor pages with additional info, (thank you, Bill, for supplying much of it) as well as adding a photo gallery to share remodeling ideas. Electrical & Energy Efficiency, Smoke & Odors, and Heating & Cooling all have new info. There’s a bit of redundancy but much of it is new and potentially very useful.

Right now the Remodeling Gallery is primarily photos of my own unit but more pics are welcome!

Georgi has found another good place to get just the right filter for your heat pump. Changing your filter regularly is the simplest, most important thing you can do to help keep your system running. Here’s her advice:

Hello All. Sometimes it is really hard to find the right-size filters for our heat pumps. And there seem to be a few different sizes required, depending on the age our systems.

And, without them being installed in the door of our heat pumps, we are putting a very serious strain on very expensive machinery to replace.

So, here is where you can go:

O’Connor Hardware (Also known as ACE Hardware) as 446 Boston Road in Billerica Center.

They have an AMAZING assortment of all sizes of filters; and they come in 3 value points.

Our older systems don’t need the ‘heavy duty’ filters; we are better off using the least expensive filters and changing them out every 6 to 12 weeks, depending on usage. 

It ALWAYS pays to check the filters on a regular basis. I hadn’t been, and it surprised me that my 2nd floor unit was able to ‘breathe’ with my filter being so clogged. I’ve put myself on a 6-week check-up system (especially during the heat of summer and the cold of winter) to keep my heat pumps as healthy as I can. I’d rather not spend the Thousands of dollars to replace a system if I can use about $25 worth of filters a year instead.

Georgi

Some important information about voting has been brought to my attention (thank you, Sally). First of all, our polling location has changed. We are Ward 4, Precinct 2, and will be voting this year at the Rogers School gym, 43 Highland Street. Hours for all polling locations are 7:00am to 8:00pm. If anyone has any connections at Canal Place 2 or 3, it might be helpful to pass the change of location along. https://www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVoteMA/WhereDoIVote

Secondly, early voting at the Senior Center at 276 Broadway St. (across from Market Basket) for the Massachusetts September 6th primary will begin on August 27th.

From our office manager:

Next week, the office will be open Monday, 8/15, 6-9pm. Further updates about next week’s hours will be posted on the office door and shared here on the bulletin board ASAP.

A request from a resident. Comments appreciated. And if folks would like to send me photos to share (I don’t believe you can post them in the comments), I can pass them along or create a gallery.

I’m wondering if any other residents have opened up their kitchen some more than it’s original boxed in state.  I’ve seen some old Zillow listings of units with removed walls or a wider arch. 

Is that kitchen wall load bearing?  Did their contractors have to do anything special to remove it? 

Would love to hear any stories or experiences about opening the place up a bit. 

I’ve also updated the Links page on this site. There are now links to the new fire safety info as well as links to various sites with info about how heat pumps work. And I’d like to remind people that if you changed your heat pump filters when the AC started up in May, you should start thinking about changing them again in a few weeks. If it’s been even longer than that, you should be changing them now.

The Lowell Folk Festival is coming up this weekend. They’ve shifted things around a bit—the dance tent is on Arcand Drive (no JFK plaza stage this year) and I believe the Market Street stage is being moved from the park out front onto Market Street itself. The St. Anne’s Courtyard stage and the Boarding House Park stage will be as usual.

Street closures will be as follows according to their website:

• Wednesday, July 27th: Arcand Dr. CLOSED beginning at 5AM (for the duration of the festival)
• Friday, July 29th: Market St between Shattuck and Palmer CLOSED beginning at Noon (for the duration of the festival)
• Full Festival footprint [this usually includes closing Merrimack and Shattuck Streets, at least on Saturday]: Friday, July 29th from 3pm-11pm, Saturday, July 30th from 11am-11pm and Sunday, July 31st from 11am – 8pm (ish depending on breakdown) Sunday

Get ready to hear lots of clanking tent poles out front over the next week. The Folk Festival is one of my favorite weekends of the year and the weather is looking good (if a tad warm—gonna wear a hat and carry a water bottle!), but I still urge folks to take care. My own family will be making sure we have our masks with us and expect to be making regular judgement calls as we try to balance fun and safety!

From a resident:

FREE SWIVEL COUNTER STOOLS!! (See pic)

Text 412-708-2622

Must pick up by Friday morning.

Thank you!!

In response to recent requests, some general information about our fire alarms and other fire safety systems has been compiled. Some of this should be appearing on our glass-front bulletin boards in the next few days, and it should eventually be making its way into the Canal Place welcome packets. In the meantime, here are the links to printable pdfs:

A general information handout: https://www.canalplaceone.com/alarms-etc.pdf

And a map of exits and equipment: https://www.canalplaceone.com/firesafetymap.pdf

A message from Georgi:

Hi Everyone! My client in CP3 is moving and she has a console table – 48” long and 29” high (and I’m going to say 16” deep because I’m not sure I got that measurement right!). 

It needs its legs tightened up and the top needs some work to remove/hide 2 water stains made by drinking glasses – but you can’t beat the price – FREE!!!

Give me a call at 978-764-5574 and we can make arrangements for you to see it.