The city hall bell. Save it!

[Whitehouse]

I thought about starting a thread for this bell even though this bell has been mentioned in a different topic. And that's because maybe this is a viable project, the reinstatement of this bell. Renovating a building, a theater or a skyscraper demands an enormous ammount of money. And how much is much? $10.000,-? That's small change for Illich.

There is another bell in the USA which is woven into the fabric of that country. A beel which was an iferior cast, a bell that cracked but even though the sound is gone, this bell still retains a place in the heart of every American. It's the liberty bell.

In 1950, the United States Department of the Treasury assisted by several private companies selected Paccard Foundry in Annecy-le-Vieux, France, to cast 55 full-sized replicas of the Liberty Bell. The bells were shipped as gifts to states and territories of the United States and the District of Columbia to be displayed and rung on patriotic occasions. This was part of a savings bond drive held from May 15 to July 4, 1950 with the slogan "Save for Your Independence." The table below shows the most recent known location of each state and territory replica Liberty Bell.

A quote taken from the website of the virtual liberty bell museum.

Every state has it's own liberty bell. There are more than the 55 replica's to be found but I won't bother you with it. Why I mentioned this museum is that a yoke like this could and maybe should also be made for the city hall bell. And it would be very symbolic to use materials of buildings lost for that, like they did with the USS New York, for which the bow of that ship has been made of steel girders of the World Trade Center.

Here's the Michigan example in the State Capitol.


Wouldn't it be nice to see this bell get a prominent place again in the city on Campus Martius? It's a bell to remind Detroit citizens what has been lost in the city center. A place to remember the buildings fallen to the wrecker, like the Statler, Tuller, Lafayette and.... city hall.

Wake up the city! Wake up, Detroit!



Your thoughts

[Retroit]

Could we use Kwame's head for the clapper?

[jtf1972]

Could we use Kwame's head for the clapper?

With the earring it might work, but in all honesty I think it would be difficult to shut up.

I am for saving the bell & all the stone & cannon from City Hall.

[Johnlodge]

In 1950 the United States Department of the Treasury, with funding from private corporations, ordered 53 full-scale reproductions of the Liberty Bell for each of the states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. The bells were cast at the historic Paccard Fonderie de Cloches [[Paccard Foundry of Bells) in Annecy-le-Vieux, Haute-Savoie, France.


States were expected to display the bells and ring them on patriotic occasions. The bells promoted the 1950 campaign to sell U.S. Savings Bonds. Because the nation would also begin celebration of the 175th anniversary of American independence in 1950, the slogan of the bond drive was "Save for Your Independence."


Transported to Lansing aboard a truck painted red, white and blue, Michigan's bell was displayed outdoors at the Capitol on May 31 for ceremonies that kicked off the bond campaign. It was then taken on a statewide tour. Upon its return to Lansing, the bell was installed on the glass first floor of the Capitol building. [[The photo, above, shows workers moving the bell off the glass floor when it was removed in 1968.)

http://www.michigan.gov/printerFrien...5824--,00.html

I'm confused, this bell doesn't seem to have ever been in Detroit, why would we move it there "again"?

Edit: I guess you are talking about two different bells? I don't know. Maybe saving a bell will help. Let's DO something!

[Retroit]

I found out that bell weighs 7670 lbs. and costed $2,782. Those are both a lot more than I expected. I presume the bell was made sometime around the construction of the city hall [[1868-1871).

I was trying to find out what the bell was used for. Just for time? Or special occasions?

[buildingsofdetroit]

From some Web site called BuildingsofDetroit.com, ahem, shameless plug:

"One of the nation's top clockmakers, W.A. Hendrie of Chicago, created the clock especially for Detroit and regarded it as his masterpiece. Its four dials – each 8 feet 3 inches in diameter and made in Glasgow, Scotland – were illuminated at night so citizens all over downtown could see the time. [[Remember, the clock tower was the highest point in the city then.) When its 125-pound pendulum first swung into action at the building’s formal dedication on July 4, 1871, it was the largest clock in the United States. But such a title came with a price: $2,850 [[about $70,000 today). Taxpayers angrily decried that it was a waste of money. The clock tower’s bell weighed in at 7,670 pounds [[3.8 tons) and cost another $2,782 [[about $68,000 today)."

More where this came from at buildingsofdetroit.com/places/cityhall

[jtf1972]

7670? Wow... That would explain why a scrapper hasn't made off with it!

[EastsideAl]

With all of the talk of Liberty Bells, both in Philadelphia and apparently from the looks of it in a cafeteria somewhere in Lansing, I think I missed something. Exactly where is the bell from Detroit's City Hall right now?

[jtf1972]

With all of the talk of Liberty Bells, both in Philadelphia and apparently from the looks of it in a cafeteria somewhere in Lansing, I think I missed something. Exactly where is the bell from Detroit's City Hall right now?

Read this thread:

http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=3999

[Whitehouse]

http://www.detroitblog.org/?p=469

better still, look for a picture in the "Shorpy does it again" topic.

[jtf1972]

better still, look for a picture in the "Shorpy does it again" topic.

After I posted I realized it wasn't on that page, so I ammended!

[PlymouthRes]

The bell that was atop City Hall in Detroit is on a couple of 2" x 4"'s in front of the 1905 Guardhouse at Fort Wayne. It has been there, exposed to the elements, for over 20 years that I know of. I remember when some members of the Coalition moved it to its current location a few years back. I make mention of it every time that I give a tour. Everyone always says what a shame it is to see it in such a state, but no one has risen to the occasion as of yet.

I am sure the Historical Society/CoD Recreation Department would entertain all offers to help with its restoration/preservation.

There was some discussion a few years back about someone [[perhaps Metaldoctor?) building a new cradle for it, but that has not happened as of yet.

If you need some contact information in regard to a preservation effort, I can put you in touch with the guy directly responsible for the bell's oversight.

Res

[EastsideAl]

Thanks jtf

[EastsideAl]

Reading the article in today's Detroit News on cryonics, I can't stop thinking about Detroit's once famous Rita Bell. To bad she's long gone, she would have been worth preserving.

Bill Kennedy once claimed that she had no lower torso.

Our once-beloved Rita Bell:

[Whitehouse]

indeed I was using the lliberty bell as an example of how the bell could be displayed. Here in the Netherlands the changing of the year is used to play some michief. There are some famous examples of that. I will post some picturea the coming weekend. One time a full size [[decomissioned) lifeboat was kidnapped with a truck. So with the right equipment it's no problem.

[Whitehouse]

indeed I was using the lliberty bell as an example of how the bell could be displayed. Here in the Netherlands the changing of the year is used to play some michief. There are some famous examples of that. I will post some picturea the coming weekend. One time a full size [[decomissioned) lifeboat was kidnapped with a truck. So with the right equipment it's no problem.

A kidnap of te bell [[or belnap...) Maybe you should try that. As I said I was going to post some pictures of what happens here every changing of the year. It is custom to do some kind of mischief and bring some local issues of the past year to the fore front with a wink. Provided that the items stolen were not damaged police are mostly not involved with the theft. And usually the return of some items is a news worthy occassion as well.

Here's one of the most ambitions quests ever undertaken. It still staggers the mind on how they did it but it happened.
Here's a picture gallery of the kidnap of Lifeboat Neeltje Jacoba.


Another great caper was the kidnap of a wax figure of Michail Gorbatshov from the Amsterdam branch of Madame Tussaud's museum. in 1991.

A mug with a diameter of 6,5 meters was stolen from the coffee company Douwe Egberts. It turned up in a small Frisian village.


Another great kidnap of the same group that "stole" the lifeboat was the hijack of a monorail train. And no, that was not a model, it was a full size train section!! It stayed in the city of Drachten for months. This particular craft reached a speed of 412,6 km/h in 1987. This is section two of the train. After about 8 years it was dismantled and brought back to Germany. It now resides on a hall next to another Transrapid train, which crashed. A particularly sad event which cost the lives of 23 passengers.

Alas, this section fell victim to the grafitti artists. It was later moved to it's place of origin. Section one of this train is displayed in the German Transport museum in Bonn.

So why this information? I hope this is an idea to bring the bell home for a couple of days. Park it at Campus Martius and give people information bout that bell. Most of the people you will encounter might not even have heard of the excistence of the bell. You could even make it a fundraiser. Ring the bell for a a couple of dollars.

Feedback?

[RickBeall]

Oh my god, they found Rita Bell buried in the woods by Fort Wayne! And someone propped her up on two by fours by a parking lot!

[RickBeall]

... weighed in at 7,670 pounds [[3.8 tons) Guess Rita kinda let herself go huh?

[jtf1972]

Any pics of the OLD Old [[1831) City Hall?

[buildingsofdetroit]

Any pics of the OLD Old [[1831) City Hall?

You bet your sweet ass.
There she is on the right. Not much to look at, but then again, Detroit wasn't much of a city back then:

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1262726479

Another:
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1262726545

[jtf1972]

You bet your sweet ass.
There she is on the right. Not much to look at, but then again, Detroit wasn't much of a city back then:

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1262726479

Another:
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/c...g?t=1262726545

Thanks! both for the pics & the compliment on my posterior!

The best thing I ever heard about City Hall is that the warped floors led to the common question as to "what was more crooked, the hallways of City Hall or the politicians who walk them?"

I find it interesting that City Hall was torn down by a suburban company [[Union Wrecking of Farmington,) used for suburban interest [[pier in St. Clair Shores) & like many other great Detroit buildings would be replaced by essentially an ugly parking lot.

[PQZ]

Thanks! both for the pics & the compliment on my posterior!

The best thing I ever heard about City Hall is that the warped floors led to the common question as to "what was more crooked, the hallways of City Hall or the politicians who walk them?"

I find it interesting that City Hall was torn down by a suburban company [[Union Wrecking of Farmington,) used for suburban interest [[pier in St. Clair Shores) & like many other great Detroit buildings would be replaced by essentially an ugly parking lot.

Huh?

Kennedy Square was not a parking lot, nor is One Kennedy.

[jtf1972]

Huh?

Kennedy Square was not a parking lot, nor is One Kennedy.

A part of Kennedy Square was the underground parking garage, which was cited as "progress."

[East Detroit]

Put it in the tower of Old Main.

Or replace the fishhead bell in GCP with this one.

I'll bet Karmanos would pay to put it in CM, if someone mentioned it.

[buildingsofdetroit]

I'll bet Karmanos would pay to put it in CM, if someone mentioned it.

I'll bet Ilitch would offer to put a parking lot over its current location on Ft. Wayne.