Mill No. 5 is situated in a former mill on Jackson Street, a dense area that does not appear like it would feature a shopping facility. In fact, just next door to Mill No. 5 is a preschool, and access to the mill means going past the preschool and going through tall, iron gates, where paper signs on the wall greet visitors with messages such as “MILL NO. 5, FOURTH DOOR ON THE LEFT.”
The elevator leading to Mill No. 5 is at the back of an almost-hidden corridor, and the only indication that notes the elevator leads to the shopping area comes in the form of one final sign, stating the mill is located on the fourth floor.
The elevator ride is quick, and when its door opens upon arriving at its destination, the scene stretching outward is enough to confuse anybody who hasn’t been there before. A prevailing dimness, signs of construction seemingly everywhere and creaky, wooden flooring would leave the purpose of the floor in question, if its existence as a mall within a mill wasn’t known upon entering.
Walking into Mill No. 5, it becomes apparent that the shops are centered around one main hallway, adorning either side. Chairs and small tables line the hallway, and a multitude of smaller hallways and mysterious doors are noticeable upon further inspection, creating a labyrinthine feel. These doors and hallways seem to be a remnant of prior days: of its time as a mill, before turning commercial and catering to a young and hip crowd.
And “hip” is definitely a defining adjective of the quirky shops here. A stage is located right when stepping out of the elevator – various musical and comedy performances happen here. The first visible shop is a record shop – in fact, the soft rock playing from the small store is subtly audible throughout the entirety of the floor. Other shops include a bookshop (Serpentine Books & Collectibles), music lesson studios, a coffee shop (Coffee & Cotton), a popcorn place (Corn & Co), a massage therapy studio, the Luna Theater, and even an apothecary (Red Antler), like something straight out of Renaissance Europe.
The personality in the coalescence of history and an artsy present is easily felt when strolling the centuries-old hallways of Mill No. 5. Even some of the doors and furniture throughout the shopping area are old. One of these doors is huge and heavy, reminiscent of a great castle door. It looks like it leads into either a magnificent palace, or a Medieval England dungeon. There is also a very random, very fanciful red chair sitting in a corner next to a large window; it is actually very eerie, yet quite interesting. There’s even a taxidermied bear planted in a back hallway. History is also dispersed throughout Mill No. 5 in the form of various plaques on the walls, one of these being a plaque eternalizing Charles Dickens’ Lowell visit in 1862.
The construction of Mill No. 5 is akin to the rebuilding of Lowell as well. Lowell is blending its detailed, significant history with present day attempts at making its downtown meaningful, with art, music, and entertainment as a whole at its core. Bad Moon Shop, opening April 2, is another example of Mill No. 5’s expansion into the future, and a microcosm of the continued effort of Lowell to find its unique identity.
The Mill uses existing infrastructure to add its own sound to the song of Lowell.
Mill No. 5, then, is a concrete representation of what Downtown Lowell could be hoping to achieve: taking the present setting, and using it to host or inspire new creations.
