×

Bell tower work nears end at Marietta church

MARIETTA – Deemed the “Church of the Pioneers” for its early settler roots in Marietta, the First Congregational Church on Front Street is 220 years old as are its under-construction bell towers. After 10 months, work on the towers is coming to an end and the beloved structures are slated to return in late June.

“They were in terrible shape,” said Judy McCauley, board of trustees chair for the church. “When we finally took them down last fall, they seemed to be basically rust held together by paint.”

The $250,000-to-$275,000 project will help restore the oldest continual congregational church in the Northwest Territory to its esteemed glory from the exterior on in.

Moran Construction crew has worked five days a week since September, starting with the removal of the 2,400-pound finials by crane. New symbolic toppers will weigh an additional 1,000 pounds and be made of sheets of metal that are measured, treated and painted while overlapping one another like a French seam.

Established in 1796, a fire burned down the church in 1905; the finials and railings of the current towers (known for being lit nightly) are 111 years old.

“We’re hoping to rededicate the towers over the summer,” said Pastor Linda Steelman. “It’s a way to memorialize Capt. Roger Dyer, who they were first installed in honor of, as well as to dedicate to the glory of God.”

Dyar was the son of early First Congregational Church members Dwight and Marie Dyar. He died in combat as a pilot in the 63rd Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group. Dyar and fellow pilot Harold Comstock, both of the U.S. Army Air Corps, were testing a P-47 Thunderbolt which locked up during flight in 1942.

Being funded by the Capital Campaign, which Steelman shared was kicked off generously by a church family through the Marietta Community Foundation, this project was much needed and the results are highly anticipated.

“I can’t go anywhere without someone coming up and asking me when the construction will be finished,” said Steelman. “They miss the towers, I think. We do too.”

The old towers featured white rails with pewter toppers while the new ones, which are scheduled to be painted within the week, will be pewter as well with a gold emblem representing the United Church of Christ.

A cross mounted by a crown will sit above the bell towers looking over Front Street. This is an ancient Christian symbol known as the Cross of Victory to signify “that all are one” underneath the leadership of their Savior.

As for a memorable moment of this multi-season construction project, Steelman said the entire congregation signed the original charred wooden rafters with a Sharpie marker.

“It’s like our version of a time capsule,” said McCauley.

The eldest member of the church, Patricia Gray, 97, signed her name as well as “member of the confirmation class of 1934” which both Steelman and McCauley said was a special moment they will never forget.

In addition to the church and community outreach fund for this quarter-of-a-million dollar project, the First Congregational Church on 318 Front St. also recently took on additional upgrades including plaster moulding, new carpet throughout the sanctuary and LED lighting.

The weeks of either June 20 or June 27 are set as tentative reinstallation weeks for the towers; from there electrical reconfiguring will need to take place before they can be respectively re-dedicated.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today