The Markley Lowell facility as seen on Nov. 5, 2026, from Prince Street in the city’s Sacred Heart neighborhood. (Photo courtesy Melanie Gilbert for InsideLowell)
by Melanie Gilbert
LOWELL – There will be an addition to the city’s skyline if the Zoning Board approves an application by the Markley Group, LLC to install an illuminated sign on the side of its main building at 2 Prince Ave.
The public hearing to discuss the special permit will be held Nov. 9. The sign will face Gorham, Livingston and Newhall streets in the property area zoned as light industrial.
“The Applicant respectfully requests a Special Permit to allow internal illumination of two (2) pylon signs and one (1) building-mounted wall sign at the Markley Group facility at 2 Prince Avenue in Lowell,” the application filed in October said. “The illumination is intentionally limited to provide clear property identification and nighttime wayfinding while minimizing impacts to surrounding residential areas.”
The total project cost is estimated at around $143,000.
Lowell has many wayfinding landmarks, including the Golden Dome of Holy Trinity Hellenic Orthodox Church on Lewis Street, the bell tower of City Hall on Merrimack Street and the red-brick Wannalancit Mills smokestack off Suffolk Street, among others.
The Sun signs atop the Sun Building in Kearney Square in the Downtown Lowell Historic District were relit as part of the Historic Board’s Sun Sign Restoration Project in Oct. 2025. (Photo courtesy Lowell Historic Board)
Illuminated signs include the iconic Sun signs sitting atop the 10-story Sun Building in Kearney Square in Downtown Lowell. The building’s height makes it a natural wayfinding point to the downtown area during the day, and the recently restored illumination with red-and-white LED lights provides nighttime wayfinding.
A large UMass Lowell sign illuminates the north and west faces of the Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center research facility located on the North Campus of the university. At night, the sign can be seen from many vantage points, including from the Marty Meehan Student Center across the Merrimack River.
In its application, Markley said the two pylon signs are intended to be viewed primarily by motorists traveling along Moore Street. The building wall sign is away from residential homes, and is set back from the residential edge of the property.
“The Applicant has intentionally minimized the amount of illuminated signage….” the application said. “The proposed signage will improve wayfinding by clearly identifying the [Moore] Street entrance, reducing unnecessary vehicle circulation and directing traffic away from residential areas.”
A Markley spokesperson could not be reached for comment, but on its website, the company describes itself as “New England’s largest and longest operating multi-tenant, mission-critical telecommunications and data center facility.”
Its flagship data center facility is located at 1 Summer St. above the Macy’s department store in the heart of Boston’s Downtown Crossing.
Launched in 1998, the site boasts 920,000 square feet of highly secured white and mechanical space, and serves global leaders in financial services, healthcare, academia, government, entertainment, science, and technology, as well as all major telecommunications companies.
The privately held company also owns and operates the 352,000 square foot mission-critical data center in Lowell, the site of the zoning special permit application.
“Markley’s Lowell facility provides mission-critical telecommunications and connectivity services, making clear identification important for customers, vendors, and authorized visitors,” the zoning application said. “The proposed signage will direct visitors to the [Moore Street] entrance, helping concentrate traffic at the intended access point and reduce circulation near residential areas.”
The application describes the building-mounted sign as being almost eight feet high and 45 feet long, with placement in the upper northwest corner of the black-facade building overlooking Oliveria Park off Newhall Street. The sign area will cover 340 square feet – or just more than 1% – of the 32,000-square-foot façade.
The aluminum channel letters will be designed with custom perforated faces. The perforated face will be backed with translucent white acrylic and is internally illuminated with LED lighting.
“The request is limited in scope and carefully designed to balance the operational needs of the Markley facility with the protection of neighboring residential properties,” Markley’s application said.
The Zoning Board meets Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the second-floor chambers of City Hall, 375 Merrimack St.
A schematic of the Markley Lowell application to the Zoning Board for an illuminated sign on the facade of its building in Lowell. (Courtesy Melanie Gilbert for InsideLowell)
