‘People miss the bells’
FOREST CITY — Jesus is wearing a hard hat these days out in front of Immaculate Conception Church. Father Herbert Burke, pastor, wanted to protect the statue of Jesus from potential harm during work now under way to repair the 65-foot bell tower adjacent to the church.
The bell tower, constructed in 2010 along with the 11,120-square-foot Gothic-style stone church, unfortunately needs extensive repairs due to water damage. All of the stone must be removed from the tower’s façade to replace the rotten wood sheathing behind it.
The Diocese of Charlotte Properties Office is assisting the parish in assessing the damage and has enlisted general contractor Edifice Inc. – not the original building contractor – to do the repairs.
“The damage is far worse than we thought,” said Anthony Morlando, diocesan properties director.
The repairs will be paid in part with money from the building contractor’s insurance company, but the parish must come up with the rest of the money.
“We are going to have to borrow an additional $100,000,” Father Burke said. That’s on top of the remaining $48,000 balance on the original loan taken out to build the church.
Once the extent of the repairs are determined, Edifice Inc. will work to replace the sheathing in all affected areas of the bell tower and possibly some areas of the church’s exterior. The exterior stone, mined locally from Table Rock Quarries in Marion, will then be replaced.
For some weeks now, the three bronze bells in the bell tower have been wrapped up to protect them from being damaged during the repair process.
“People miss the bells,” Father Burke said. “The bell tower is the most beautiful aspect of the exterior of the church.”
When in use, the bells chime out each hour, quarter hour and half hour. They also play the Angelus at noon and can also be programmed to play hymns –heard for miles from the church’s prominent location in Forest City.
The extent of the damage is still being assessed, so a completion date for the repair work is in flux.
“We had originally hoped the project would be completed by Christmas,” said Emmett Sapp, diocesan properties construction manager. “Right now we don’t think that this is going to happen.”
With the winter season approaching, conditions for replacing the stone are not ideal, Sapp explained.
“This is Father Burke’s dream church. The parish has put a lot of time and money into it. We’re hoping to get it restored as quickly as we can,” he said.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter