By By JESSICA SIEFF / Niles Daily Star
They raised the roof on Friday, at Wesley United Methodist Church – and that is not in reference to the choir.
They literally raised the roof.
Members of the church located at 302 Cedar St. in Niles can now look up to see their church's bell tower affixed with a new crown, so to speak.
Plans and estimates to renovate the bell tower began back in November, said Dick McCreedy, member of the church's board of trustees and coordinator for the project.
McCreedy said he helped in organizing the contractors to install a new rooftop to the bell tower and "make it happen.
"Though it took me a little while to make this happen," he said with a laugh.
There was what used to be, he added, "a very ornate peak on the top of the tower."
McCreedy also speculated on the history of the significance of the tower, saying he'd heard some reports that there was a possibility that long ago the bell was used for the city as an alert in the case of a fire.
Some time between the years of 1945 and 1959, McCreedy said the peak was removed from the bell tower. "It was falling apart," he said, adding that an estimated 30 feet worth of the top of the tower had been removed.
Years later, the condition of the rooftop began to worsen. Around 2005, McCreedy said, "we had a serious leak."
A rubber patch was used to seal off the worsened area as a sort of temporary solution, he added. But the church's board decided to go with something more permanent.
They worked to come up with a plan for the bell tower, getting estimates and by last November began finalizing the plan.
But weather and other issues postponed turning the new bell tower into a reality.
It finally came to completion Friday, with a new crown affixed with a cross placed atop the bell tower.
"We're pleased with the way it looks," McCreedy said. "Now we're hoping there's no maintenance needed for it and there are no more leaks."
Funding for the project came from an endowment fund for the church, McCreedy said.
The bell tower isn't the only thing new at Wesley United Methodist.
The church also boasts a redesigned website, for those who haven't visited it in a while, where pictures can be found of the rooftop raising as well as information on the church's ministries, events and services.
For more information on the church, visit www.wesleyumcniles.org.