STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Some Sturgeon Bay Residents will be able to ditch their alarm clocks as they’ll have the opportunity to wake up the “old fashioned” way.
That’s because holiday bells won’t be the only thing heard this winter in Sturgeon Bay, thanks to the restoration of the “Old Bell” tower located downtown.
The 118-year-old bell had been silent for more than a decade before restoration was completed by the Door County Community Foundation.
Bret Bicoy, the President and CEO of the Door County Community Foundation, thinks the bell has symbolic significance.
“Once upon a time the bell was how we kept time,” he says. “It would call us together as a community, but unfortunately it hasn’t worked for many years.”
The bell has been moved across the street from its original location, which was in a bell tower of the Bank of Sturgeon Bay.
The bell’s history and restoration are significant to John Herlache of Sturgeon Bay.
“My father was the CEO of the Bank of Sturgeon Bay, and in 1989 when they had their 100th anniversary, they wanted to do something special for Sturgeon Bay,” he explains. “So right away he knew what that should be, and that should be a bell tower with a clock.”
The Door County Community Foundation was able to restore the bell through a donation from Herlache’s parents’ foundation.
The final price tag for the restoration wasn’t astronomical, which is a tip of the cap to the townspeople’s benevolence.
“The thing about it is the actual cost of restoring the bell was about $25,000, but it would’ve cost more had it not been for the generosity of the people in the community,” explains Bicoy.
And no matter the cost, hearing the bell sound again was worth every penny to community members like John Herlache.
The bell will ring on the hour from 8 in the morning to 8 at night every day.
