REPAIRS TO THE BELL TOWER During the estimates for replacing the roof of the church, it was brought to our attention that the infrastructure of the bell tower was in a state of deterioration. We thus had structural engineers visit the site and provide us with a report. Their advice was that the bell had to be brought down and the support structure repaired before anything could be done to repair the roof. The first step was to remove the statue of the Sacred-Heart of Jesus from its niche in the front wall. We then had to open the south wall of the bell chamber and had the bell removed by a commercial crane. [photos of final paint job and trimming are yet to be posted]
Bringing down of the statue of the Sacred-Heart of Jesus	Opening of the south wall of the bell chamber	Removal of the bell
Once on the ground, the bell was sandblasted and repainted ready for its trip back to the steeple.	Return of the painted bell and wheel, ready for re-installation in the steeple.	Hoisting of the bell back into the steeple chamber.
Repositioning of bell inside the chamber.	Bell back in its resting place, ready for wall to be closed	Sacred-Heart of Jesus statue, being repainted after repairs.
Repaired and repainted, S-H of Jesus statue is ready for return to it niche.	Hoisted back into its refreshed niche, the Sacred-Heart of Jesus statue, once again overlooks Richer.	The bell tower chamber wall repaired and ready for paint.
First sunset for the restored structure.	Tower with primer coat of paint.	Tower with finished paint to the inside and outside: walls and trim, all completed. Sacred-Heart statue also repainted.

BACK TO THE TOP