A new bell tower made from the former St. Joseph’s Church is set to arrive in Bayonne next week, officials said this morning.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I am very proud that our administration saved the bells of St. Joseph’s Church for future generations of residents to enjoy. They will serve as a memorial to the Slovak immigrants of St. Joseph’s Parish who helped build Bayonne in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,” Mayor Jimmy Davis said in a statement.
Davis added that the new bell tower is set to arrive on or about Wednesday, October 5. The 35-foot tower will be the new home for three bells that used to ring at the former St. Joseph’s Church of Bayonne.
The bell tower will be coming from the Verdin Bell Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the bells have been polished, refurbished, and retoned.
A fourth bell from the former church will be placed inside City Hall at a later date. Details concerning the fourth bell will be announced after arrangements have been made.
The bell tower will arrive in Bayonne on a truck. From there, the tower will be lifted and put in place in Fitzpatrick Park at the corner of 27th Street and Avenue C. A clock with four faces, one on each side, will be a prominent feature of the tower.
The bells will be mounted inside the tower. They will be active bells, capable of making sounds along with music or tolling for the hour. The bells can be programmed to ring at specific times.
“We will have a clock tower with all the bells and whistles. Hopefully, within a few days after its installation, the bell tower will be ready to use,” added Department of Public Works Director Tom Cotter.
If everything is in working order, a dedication ceremony will be held for the tower at Fitzpatrick Park on Tuesday, October 11th, at 10:00 a.m.
The bell tower includes a weather vane on its top. This kind of bell tower is placed frequently in town squares and shopping districts across the country.
The bell tower’s location, Fitzpatrick Park, is named after former Mayor Francis G. Fitzpatrick Park, who served as Bayonne’s leader from 1962 to 1974.