LYNN — The new 10-story development on Munroe Street will feature luxury apartments, ground-floor commercial space, a rooftop pool … and a bit of patriotism.
Construction crews spent Thursday morning installing a 48-foot aluminum flagpole into the top two floors of the downtown Lynn building with a massive crane.
An American flag now sits atop the structure, hovering over Munroe Street and marking another milestone in a $90 million project that is expected to be completed by December.
Daniel Skolski, owner of DMS Design, the Peabody-based architectural firm that designed the building, said placing the American flag in the center of the building was planned from the beginning.
“I thought it was a good piece of symbolism,” said Skolski. “I see that Lynn is a really fantastic American city and was founded and grown by immigrants, and that’s what America is all about. I thought it was really powerful.”
The flag is meant to be a nod to Lynn’s history and symbolize the significance of the project’s role in reshaping the downtown, but Skolski also added it to honor a family member of the developers, Scott Procopio, who was killed in action in 2006 while serving in Iraq.
Scott, 20, a U.S. Marine Corporal was the son of Kevin Procopio and brother of Michael and Gregory Procopio, whose Lynnfield-based Procopio Companies is developing the site, which is currently being transformed into 259 market-rate apartments and ground-floor commercial space, according to Skolski.
Skolski said the flagpole was designed with the intention that the American flag could be seen from parts of Route 1A and the Nahant Causeway.
“It’s a unique feature to have on the building,” said Timothy Dann, project manager of Dellbrook JKS, the construction company that elevated the flagpole to its proper location on Thursday.
Dann said the work went smoothly, but noted that between assembly of the flagpole, site preparation, and actually getting the massive flagpole 10 stories above the ground, the ordeal took more than four hours.
Of that timeframe, which necessitated the closure of Munroe Street from 7 a.m. to approximately 11:30 a.m., maneuvering the crane to install the flagpole took between 30 minutes to an hour, Dann said.
“Once it was assembled, we were able to lift it up into one piece and drop it into place,” said Dann. “The crane took it up there — Lawton Welding (which installed the flagpole) had a couple of guys up on the lift who were able to steer it into place and then it dropped right in.”
