Community members in the Village of Vermontville celebrated the completion of a project Tuesday to restore a historic bell tower.
The bell tower has been around since 1862, according to Village Clerk Becky Austin.
Austin said the tower's louvers, or shutters, surrounding the bell had rotted and were falling apart. She added the bell has been inoperable and quiet for about five years.
“Everyone was really excited to hear it. It makes a nice clean sound now without the debris and stuff that was up in there before," she said.
Austin said she hopes the bell tower will show that investments are still being made in the village despite the community facing economic challenges since the pandemic.
“With every building that we upgrade or repair, with every street that we repave, with every park that we fix up for the children, we just want to show people that there's still people here investing in our community, that care about our community,” she said.
The project cost a little more than $23,000, according to Austin, and was funded by a Lansing Economic Area Partnership grant.
The bell tower is attached to a church that was moved to the village in 1886 and now serves as a community center.
