Moose Jaw’s 1902 town bell has had an eventful life during the past 120 years, from alerting residents to fires to nearly being forgotten in the city yards.
The Town of Moose Jaw ordered the bell on May 16, 1902, from the American Bell Foundry Company of Michigan for $100. After receiving the instrument, the town installed it on July 4 of that year on a derrick at the rear of town hall on Main Street North and River Street West — about one block from its new home at the Multiplex.
The municipality moved the bell in 1904 to the bell tower of the newly built city hall on Fairford Street West and First Avenue Northwest and rang it for fire alarms and curfews during prohibition. It was rumoured that residents could hear the bell ring as far as 11 kilometres (seven miles) away.
In 1951 the city removed the bell from city hall and placed it in St. George Anglican Church, where it rang until 1972, when the city installed it in Crescent Park under the curation of the museum and art gallery.
The municipality later removed the bell from the park because of vandalism and stored it in the city yards, where it sat for years before the heritage advisory committee took on the task in 2017 of restoring this important piece of community history.
After five years of repairs and planning, the city installed the restored town bell on Nov. 10, 2022, with a new derrick stand on the outdoor concourse at the Events Centre on First Avenue Northwest. It then officially unveiled the bell on Dec. 1.
There were many volunteers and businesses that contributed to the restoration of the historic bell. According to the City of Moose Jaw, some of them are:
- The heritage advisory committee (2017-22): Coun. Crystal Froese, Scott Hellings, John Bye, Dana Bushko, Ira Dales, Janie Fries, Larry Hellings, Todd McIntyre, Yvette Moore, Stella Richards, Karla Rasmussen and Dave Wentworth
- Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s welding department, including Stephen Guillaume and Buck Calfas; the department welded repairs and fabricated new pivot bushings
- I&E Painting and Sandblasting
- Steady Metalworks, for the initial design concept of the bell stand
- Right Choice Energy Services, which fabricated and installed the bell stand and mounted the bell
- C&S Builders, which installed the stand’s cement foundation
- Project engineer Vern Corbett
The bell was originally designed for long-term outdoor exposure and low maintenance.
It is mounted on a headstock supported by two A-shaped cast iron frames on each side. It weighs about 680 kilograms (about 1,500 pounds) and contains a nearly one-metre-long (three-foot) removable clapper that the city will store inside and re-attach for special events.
The new stand was designed with cues from early 20th-century structures to emulate the period when the bell was first erected; many old train bridges and buildings were constructed with cross bracing and rivets.
The derrick-style design also includes a bench around the perimeter to enhance the stand’s functionality and to provide a gathering or resting place near the Multiplex.
The city also plans to install a plaque with information about the bell and to honour everyone who contributed to the project.
