150-Year-Old Bell Retuned and Ready to Ring
Again at Irvington Presbyterian Church
Irvington, NY (December 18,
2007) -- Ten months after
Seaboard Weatherproofing &
Restoration carefully removed
the 1,200-lb. bell from its
tower at the Irvington
Presbyterian Church, the
church bell, having been
retuned at the Whitechapel
Bell Foundry in England, was
hoisted back into its rightful
place on December 12.
"Our job is to tune the bell for
a specific sound," said Neil
Thomas, Bell Hanger with
London's Whitechapel
Foundry, who supervised the
tuning and worked hand-inhand
with Seaboard and the
renovation architect to reinstall
the bell. "Now that it's
tuned the pitch will remain
consistent and will resonate
better so the bell can be heard
at a much greater distance." In
addition to the original bell,
which was first cast in 1875 by
Meneely & Kimberly in Troy,
NY, four new smaller bells
(fixed bells struck by hammers
and operated by a clock
mechanism) that were cast by
Whitechapel were also
installed. The British foundry,
one of only two bell foundries
in England, is renowned for
having cast the Liberty Bell
and London's Big Ben.
The Irvington Presbyterian Church is located at 25 North
Broadway in Irvington and
was constructed in 1869. It
was designed by James
Renwick, architect of the
Smithsonian Institution and St.
Patrick's Cathedral in New
York City.
"The exceedingly tall tower
and its historic bell are
tangible reminders of the
influence and beauty the
church has in the community.
We're proud to be a part of the
town and this project," said
Walter Sedovic, architect of
the church renovation and
principal and CEO of Walter
Sedovic Architects in
Irvington, NY.
The recently retuned bell was
first installed less than a
decade after the church was
built. It has not peeled in the
tower since the late 1950s,
when electric carillon bells
were installed. When that
system failed in the mid-
1990s, all bell-driven hymns
from the church tower fell
silent.
After years of debate among
church leaders, the decision
was finally made to repair the
existing bell and add four new
ones. In February 2007, the
4.5-foot high, 3.5-foot wide,
bronze bell was finally
removed from the church's
seven-story bell tower. It
arrived in England in March
and returned by steamship in
July. It took five months before
all the elements were in place
for congregation members
and townspeople to hear
something no one in Irvington
has heard for half a century.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime
project," said Jay Fiebich,
General Manager of Seaboard
Weatherproofing &
Restoration. "This bell has not
been heard from for nearly 50
years. We worked very closely with Whitechapel Foundry in
removing the bell and now
we're very excited that it's
back in place...working on a
piece of history that is this
substantial is very rewarding
to us."
With projects that include
Brooklyn's historic New
Utrecht Reformed Church, the
Eldridge Street Synagogue on
Manhattan's Lower East Side,
and the Lafayette Avenue
Presbyterian Church in
Brooklyn, Sedovic tapped
Seaboard for their vast
experience in exterior
restoration of landmark places
of worship.
"Working with Seaboard is
fantastic," said Sedovic.
"We've worked with them for
so many years on detailed,
historic engagements...and
that's where they excel —
putting all these fine parts and
pieces together on every
project we've done with them.
What's more, every job has
come out so well and so very
unique. They always exceed
expectations."
About Seaboard
Weatherproofing and
Restoration Company:
Based in Port Chester, NY,
Seaboard Weatherproofing
and Restoration Company is
one of the leading restoration
and alteration construction
firms in the New York City
metropolitan area. The
company has received several
prestigious awards and
numerous accolades for its
work on high-profile projects,
including The Elephant House
at the Bronx Zoo, The
Cloisters museum, and The
Woolworth Building. For more
information, please call (800)
347-7464 or visit
www.seaboardwpr.com.
Seaboard Weatherproofing
and Restoration Company
530 Willett Avenue
Port Chester, New York 10573
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Guitar sounds like a church bellby david6stringz129,446 views
thats neat I enjoyed that
Dolphindream15 1 year ago
IPC THE PLACE TO BE
heyarewethereyet 3 years ago
What are this bells playing??
sander1998 3 years ago