Page 55 - Hotel Tunnel's 100 Years of History

which form the foundation of Lomma today, later known as Skanska Cement Company. During the years 1729-1740, he ran his business in partnership with his brother-in-law, businessman Lorens Stein, under the firm name Suell & Stein. After his death, the estate and extensive business were taken over by sons Ernst and Niclas Suell, of whom the former had been his father's partner and the latter had run his own business in property number 217, I, in block number 45 S:t Peter at the corner of Oster- and Master Nilsgatorna, which property he also lived in. The eldest of the brothers, Ernst Suell, managed the business. During his time, properties number 353 and 354 were affected by a large fire. The fire broke out in Ernst Suell's absence at 10pm on the evening of March 26, 1750 in the part of number 353 located at Kansligranden, which housed the brewery and kitchen. Due to this fire, an investigation was conducted before the city council court on April 2, 4, 7 and 9, and the cause could not be determined, the 1583-built wooden building on Kansligatan burned down.
In 1750, Ernst Suell built the current two-story building at number 353 on Kansligatan, and repaired the other damaged buildings at the same number. However, construction on the new building did not start until mid-June of that year. At that time, there were large piles of limestone gravel, stone, and rubble on the land, and it was difficult to find people to do the clearing work. In addition, the property on Adelgatan was to be occupied by Baron Mauritz Posse, and Suell wanted the land and garden to be cleaned up and the new building to be built as soon as possible. On June 18th, the city's builders promised to assist with 14 workers per day for the clearing work. Work on the new building was done quickly and by November, it was finished. Due to the high costs of the construction, including on the corner lot at number 354, Suell asked for tax and lodging exemptions for 15 years from the city's authorities. When the city elders only granted 12 years starting from 1751, Suell renewed his request, stating that he did not want to burden the city's re- sidents with tax records to help with the costly work. On October 24th, the city granted the 15-year tax exemption, with the condition that Suell build a stone house on the burned lot by the end of 1754.
On November 5th, 1750, Ernst Suell gained citizenship as a merchant in Malmo, but he was ill for several years, and was likely depressed by the fire accident. He soon went on sick leave and died on the night of the 24th of that month. With Ernst Suell's death, the construction on the corner lot was stopped, and it seems that the foundation was not com- pleted, likely due to the inability of the estate to acquire working capital. Niclas Suell, who had been a merchant since September 18th, 1742, took
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