Historic lighting was restored to the exterior of 23 Church St. in November 2025. By E. Matteo Diaz
By Jaya N. Karamcheti and Kevin Zhong, Crimson Staff Writers
Yesterday
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.