Berkeley Building

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"Old" John Hancock Tower, 200 Berkeley St., Boston. The spire at top houses a neon-lit weather beacon.

The Berkeley Building (the "old John Hancock Building"), the second of the John Hancock buildings, is a 26-story, 495-foot (151 m) structure located at 200 Berkeley Street, Boston, USA. It was designed by Cram and Ferguson and completed in 1947. From 1947 until 1964 it was the second-tallest building in the city, one foot shorter than the 496-foot Custom House Tower, but a much larger building and a very conspicuous landmark. The Prudential Tower, completed in 1964, dwarfed both. As of 2004 a dozen buildings are taller, yet it remains a handsome and easily recognized Boston landmark, familiar to commuters crossing the Charles River. A drawing of this building served as a logo for the insurance company for many years.

As of 2004 the John Hancock company refers to it as "The Berkeley Building," but in common parlance it is "the old John Hancock Building."

It is topped by a weather beacon with red and blue lights, which use a code to present the local weather forecast, using a popular rhyme as a mnemonic:

Steady blue, clear view.

Flashing blue, clouds due.

Steady red, rain ahead.

Flashing red, snow instead.

During baseball season, flashing red means the Boston Red Sox game has been called off on account of weather.

In October of 2004, the beacon flashed red and blue to commemorate the Boston Red Sox World Series victory. This was the first time the color scheme changed since the beacon was lit in 1950. A new line was added to the poem accordingly:

Flashing Blue and Red, when The Curse of the Bambino is dead!