Another Attempt Made To Have Two Bells Returned To Prominence

A proposal brought forward by the Heritage Advisory Committee might soon have a couple of historic bells finding new places in the hearts of Moose Jaw’s citizenry following the upcoming 2020 - 2021 Budget discussions.

At the September 21st regular Council meeting the Committee brought forward two recommendations which will see up to $60,000 spent to get things ringing throughout the community.

The first proposal is to have a stand and a location chosen for the original town bell. The once forgotten heavyweight, although not able to ring, will then have a prominent place in the community.

The estimated cost to design and erect the stand plus move the bell to its’ new place of honour is $15,000.

The Committee identified taking the funds out of the Heritage Reserve Fund - money which was initially raised and ear-marked to help in the restoration of the Moose Jaw Natatorium building.

The bell has been repaired and is waiting for a new permanent home.

The second project is the replacement of the glass on the City Hall clock as well as the potential installation of an electronic timer and clapper to enable the bell to be able to ring again after being unable to do so for at least two generations of Moose Jaw citizens.

The cost of the restoration of the glass and the electronic timer is $45,000.

Funds the Committee recommended would come from the Parks and Recreation Department’s facility reserve. A move which changed to simply a Capital Buidget request during the discussion.

The Original Town Bell

The City’s original bell was in bad shape and had been literally forgotten after being placed in storage following it coming into disrepair. The bell sat in front of the Libary/Museum and Art Gallery for a number of years.

The bell was part of previous Council discussion in March 2020 (prior to the COVID - 19 pandemic) and was referred back to Administration for a further report.

At the March meeting an almost identical request had been made as the one at the September 21st meeting - with the same costs and suggestions by the Committee as to where to find the funds.

“The first project, the town bell stand, after it was brought to Council (the owner of) Steady Metalworks actually approached the Chair of the Heritage Advisory Committee and offered to condtruct the stand, design the stand for the Committee and would provide all of the time in kind,” Parks and Recreation Director Derek Blais said.

Steady Metalworks would only charge for the materials and to transport the bell.

Administration’s report estimated the cost to be $15,000.

Blais said Administration was advising not to approve the request using the funds from the Heritage Reserve at this time but the issue should be referred to the 2021 Budget discussions.

Councillor Crystal Froese, who is Council’s representative on the Heritage Advisory Committee said the bell in question is a major part of the City’s heritage.

“The bell we are talking about it is 118 years old. It is absolutely an icon piece of our heritage,” Councillor Froese said.

She said she was happy to see the issue of the two bells back before Council.

“I am quite happy to see this back on the agenda because this has been four years of me trying to ring a bell in this city,” she said. “It is really great to see a community business to come forward and try to help us out with this.”

The initial bell stand design compliments the period of when the bell was cast, she said.

“The stand itself looks like it is kind of from that era.”

City Hall Bell

“For years I didn’t even know we had a bell up there like most people didn’t either because I have never heard it ring in my entire lifetime. It is workable. It is something we can hook up, modernze by putting a digital clapper on. It can be rang during special ocassions.It can be rang, set to ring for Remembrance Day which I think would be very encouraging to our citizens,” she said, adding “You really cannot ring the bell until the glass is fixed because it woud be a safety issue”.

A Local Icon

Moose Jaw’s City Hall clock is a Downtown icon a Councillor said during debate - photo courtesy of Roxanne Ashe of Virtual Homes Moose Jaw & Virtual Interiors Photography

For Councillor Froese heritage was important.

“I think we have to start looking at heritage as an asset. And really heritage impacts so many areas of our City, to economic development to even the way we feel in our sense of place about our community.”

It is something Moose Jaw resident Harold Claffey backed up in his March 2020 presentation to Council. Claffey said having the City Hall bell ring once more was a grand opportunity that should not be missed.

She felt it was good to see the repairs to the glass clock face heading towards budget was good because “the clock face itself is a complete asset to our city.”

In Administration’s report it stated the repairs to the clock face were estimated to be $25,000. The cost for the automated clapper for the bell was extimated at $20,000 or double of the amount quoted in January 2019.

Councillor Froese made the motion to allocate $20,000 for the construction of the stand from the Heritage Reserve be considered during the 2020 - 2021 Budget deliberations and the $45,000 estimated cost for the City Hall bell also be part of those deliberations.

Council Discussion

Councillor Brian Swanson asked if there had been any enhancement of the Heritage Reserve which at present has a balance of just over $21,000.

Director of Finance Brian Acker said there had not been any enhancement to the reserve for years.

“I just make that point and that reserve was built up, the Heritage Committee and me being part of the Heritage Committee we were actively fundraising for and to build up that reserve…the intent was it would go to a Natatorium refurbishment of some sort,” Councillor Swanson said. “So there are two parts to it. There is the part of builiding up that reserve and then there is the part about spending it.”

He went on to state he was opposed to a $16,000 bell stand and he was in favour of a cheaper stand costing $4,000.

“Sixteen thousand dollars from money that has been lying in a reserve for another purpose it is easy to spend but there are other options that would be less expensive for the bell…a $4,000 stand would probably be a really nice stand,” Councillor Swanson said.

Councillor Froese responded given the bell’s weight of 1,500 pounds it would need something very sturdy to hold it out of the way.

“The reason why it is no longer in Crescent Park is because it was left on the ground and it was vandalized,” she said.

About fundraising for the Heritage Reserve Councillor Froese said “it certainly has not been part of our mandate to fundraise for City projects.”

“As far as the Natatorium we are going to need more money, way more money to do any benefit..that will have to be a project that Council takes in a much bigger aspect than the $20,000 that is that fund right now. This is money that can be well spent bringing back our original bell.”

Councillor Dawn Luhning felt it was proper to move the funding issue to the 2020 - 2021 Budget discussions.

“I think in the whole scheme of thigs we need to have a discussion around this at budget and see what the best cost would be for something lke this..This hasn’t been on our radar and it hasn’t been in the Budget for awhile,” Councillor Luhning said. “I think that is the appropriate place for it.”

It should be noted that in January 2019 Councillor Luhning expressed her opposition to at least a portion of the proposal and at that time no member of Council would second the proposal to spend the $10,000 for a new system to make the City Hall bell ring.

In a six to one vote with Councillor Swanson the lone voice opposed the funding for the clock stand as well as restoration work on the clock face and potentially installing an electronic timer and clapper was tabled to the 2020 - 2021 Budget deliberations.