LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, September 23, 2002: Last January, Wayne Burgett moved his tool manufacturing business into part of a vacant 50,000 square-foot building in the Black Brook Industrial Park in Lowell. Burgett figured it was only a matter of time before some other large firm snatched up what remained of the warehouse-like structure. Burgett has a new neighbor. But it’s not another company, It’s a Hindu temple. The building, located at 50 Stedman St, was recently sold for $1.5 million to Swaminarayan BAPS Northeast, an international organization that operates 345 Hindu temples worldwide. The group has already renovated the inside of the structure and opened the temple hall on Saturday. The opening marks the second Hindu temple in Lowell. The temple operations take up about 70 percent of the building. Burgett’s company and another firm occupy the rest. Burgett said he has no intention of moving. The sale of the building to a religious institution is a sign of the economic times in Massachusetts, where once-coveted manufacturing space is now cheap and readily available.
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