{"id":120,"date":"2010-07-11T14:16:54","date_gmt":"2010-07-11T21:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/?page_id=120"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:51:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:51:58","slug":"bell-tower","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/projects\/bell-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"Bell Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Marble Bell Tower Reconstruction Project<\/h2>
Feature<\/strong><\/td>Details<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Original Purpose<\/b><\/span><\/td>Part of the town’s fire alarm system (built 1912)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Project Type<\/b><\/span><\/td>Exact full-sized replica reconstruction<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Completion Date<\/b><\/span><\/td>July 17, 2010<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Estimated Cost<\/b><\/span><\/td>$70,000 (including cash and donated services)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Architect<\/b><\/span><\/td>Brad Larson (Larson Design)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Key Materials<\/b><\/span><\/td>70-year-old reclaimed timbers from Denver; Marble footings<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Height\/Levels<\/b><\/span><\/td>3 wood levels + metal bell house frame<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
The Bell<\/b><\/span><\/td>Replacement cast iron bell found in 2004 (Original broke in 1977)<\/span><\/td><\/tr>
Lead Organization<\/b><\/span><\/td>Marble Historical Society<\/span><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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One of Marble\u2019 most visible landmarks, the tower and its bell, stood and rang for nearly 65 years between 1912 and 1977 as part of the town\u2019s fire alarm system. Twenty-five years after its demise, due to a flood, the Marble Historical Society undertook the reconstruction of an exact replica of the tower in its original location being completed 17 July 2010.<\/p>

By today\u2019s landmarks, this spot can be found just one-half block due south of the west end of Carbonate Creek Bridge, and is just west of the Center Street right of way, where the creek now flows, near a tight group of middle-aged cottonwood trees.\u00a0 The full sized replica tower on its original location serves as a direct connection with the town\u2019s boom period.\u00a0 The 1912 tower was one of many boom period civic improvements and a source of pride for the town folks.<\/p>

Brad Larson an area architect from Larson Design lead the construction, along with Jake Scholsser for the $70,000 replica (cash and donated services). Using field measurements taken from the tower ruins, wood with which to construct the replica came from 70-year-old timbers recovered from the Cooper Tire building in Denver and provided at cost by Jake and Susan Schloesser.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In 2002-2003, the tower foundation work was completed by several local volunteers, with marble footings donated by Rex Loesby, former owner of the local marble quarry.<\/p>

The replica tower also needed a replacement bell for the 1912 bell broke into several pieces when the tower fell over during a 1977 windstorm.\u00a0 A bell search by Dawn Whitmer came to fruition in 2004 when she found a cast iron bell of approximately the same dimensions.<\/p>

While the foundation work was in progress, work started on the tower\u2019s three wood levels at Jake\u2019s wood reclamation business.\u00a0 The wood was cut and the various pieces assembled for each side to check for fit and accuracy, each piece marked then disassembled.\u00a0 This process was done during Brad and Jake\u2019s spare time from 2002 \u2013 2008.\u00a0 The wood was moved to the tower site in 2008 for erection in the summer of 2009.<\/p>

In the summer of 2009, a volunteer crew was assembled to raise the three wood levels.\u00a0 Raising the first level started 13 June and was finished on 21 June.\u00a0 The second level was up in August and the third was installed 2 November.\u00a0 Donated crane service was provided to lift the two upper sections into place.<\/p>

The bell house frame was constructed of metal in 2003 and delivered to the tower site.\u00a0 Here Dan Prazen cut-welded the needed additions to attach the bell and other parts.\u00a0 In July 2010, the frame was moved to Jake\u2019s workshop to install the bell and attach the wood covering on the sides and the roof.\u00a0 At 11:20pm, on 16 July 2010, the final piece was attached to the bell house.<\/p>

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17 July 2010, the bell house was moved to the tower site and raised into place. The final act was a ringing of the bell during the annual \u201cOld Timers Day\u201d by attendee Dorothy Orlosky.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marble Bell Tower Reconstruction Project Feature Details Original Purpose Part of the town’s fire alarm system (built 1912) Project Type Exact full-sized replica reconstruction Completion Date July 17, 2010 Estimated Cost $70,000 (including cash and donated services) Architect Brad Larson (Larson Design) Key Materials 70-year-old reclaimed timbers from Denver; Marble footings Height\/Levels 3 wood levels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":228,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-120","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":null,"rttpg_excerpt":"Marble Bell Tower Reconstruction Project Feature Details Original Purpose Part of the town’s fire alarm system (built 1912) Project Type Exact full-sized replica reconstruction Completion Date July 17, 2010 Estimated Cost $70,000 (including cash and donated services) Architect Brad Larson (Larson Design) Key Materials 70-year-old reclaimed timbers from Denver; Marble footings Height\/Levels 3 wood levels…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":949,"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/120\/revisions\/949"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marblehistory.org\/staging\/5176\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}