IN DOWNTOWN SPRINGFIELD, IN BETWEEN CITY HALL AND
SYMPHONY HALL SITS THE HISTORIC CAMPANILE CLOCK TOWER.
ONCE A TOURISTS ATTRACT, THE CAMPANILE HAS BEEN CLOSED TO THE
PUBLIC FOR DECADES AND ITS EXTERIOR IS NOW LINED WITH BLACK
SAFETY NETTING TO PREVENT LOOSE LIMESTONE FROM FALLING TO THE
GROUND BELOW.
THE CITY IS CURRENTLY WORKING WITH A BOSTON FIRM TO HELP
EVALUATE WHAT REPAIRS ARE NEEDED AND RECENTLY PRODUCER DAVE
FRASER GOT A UNIQUE LOOK INSIDE THE CAMPANILE TO LEARN MORE
ABOUT ITS STAT US AND ITS PLACE IN SPRINGFIELD'S HISTORY.
>> IT STANDS 275 FEET TALL AND IS MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD.
IT IS CONSIDERED THE CENTER PIECE OF THE HISTORIC MUNICIPAL
GROUP BUILDINGS THAT ALSO INCLUDES SYMPHONY HALL AND CITY
HALL.
IT TOOK THREE YEARS TO BUILD, OPENING IN DECEMBER OF 1913.
IN ITS HEY DAY, 12 LARGE BRONZE BELLS WOULD RING THROUGHOUT THE
DAY, EVERY QUARTER HOUR.
FORMER PRESIDENT WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT WAS THE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
DURING ITS DEDICATION.
THE CAMPANILE IS INDEED HISTORIC.
>> ANYBODY WHO WAS ANYBODY WAS AT THE FOOT OF THE CAMPANILE TO
DEDICATE AND APPLAUD.
AND THAT'S HOW IT BEGAN.
>> TODAY SADLY THE CAMPANILE IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC.
THE BELLS ARE SILENT AND BLACK MESH NETTING HELPS SLOW THE
DETERIORATION AND KEEP THE LIMESTONE FROM CRUMBLING AND
FALLING.
THE CITY IS WORKING WITH A BOSTON FIRM TO HELP EVALUATE
WHAT REPAIRS ARE NEEDED NOW AND IN THE FUTURE.
>> I THINK WHEN THIS FIRST STARTED SOME YEARS AGO, WHEN I
TOOK OVER AS MAYOR I THINK WE WERE LOOKING AT 10, MAYBE
12 MILLION-DOLLAR PRICE TAG. 23 MILLION IS THE COST RIGHT
NOW.
THAT WOULD TAKE A MASSIVE INFLUX OF FEDERAL, DESIGNATED FEDERAL
FUNDING.
OUR GOAL HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO HAVE IT FULLY FUNCTIONAL,
RESTORATION, THAT'S OUR GOAL.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO.
>> "CONNECTING POINT" WAS GIVEN A SPECIAL TOUR INSIDE THE
CAMPANILE ALONG WITH THE MAYOR AND THE CITY'S DIRECTOR OF
SPECIAL ASSET AND CONSTRUCTION, PETER GARVEY.
>> BEHIND YOU USED TO BE THE ENTRANCE IN, THIS IS THE WAY YOU
USED TO COME IN. AND YOU USED TO BE ABLE TO RING
THE BELL, THE BELL STILL WORKS, AND THE ELEVATOR WOULD COME DOWN
AND TAKE YOU ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP.
OVER HERE IS THE DEDICATION PLAQUE FROM 1906.
THESE ARE ALL THE ENGINEERS AND PEOPLE THAT WERE INVOLVED IN THE
PROJECT.
SO A LOT OF HISTORY THERE.
>> FROM THE ENTRANCE WE BEGAN THE LONG CLIMB UP THE STEEL
STAIRCASE, STOPPING ALONG THE WAY TO NOTICE THE SHAFT THAT
USED TO CARRY THE WATER POWERED ELEVATOR TO THE TOP.
GARVEY POINTED OUT SOME OF THE SIGNS OF DETERIORATION, BUT ALSO
TOOK NOTE OF THE STEEL STRUCTURE THAT HOLDS THE TOWER UP.
>> IT'S A RELATIVELY GOOD CONDITION RIGHT HERE, IT'S
RIVETTED TOGETHER, AND IT'S HOW THEY USED TO BUILD IT, 100 PLUS
YEARS AGO.
IT'S A STEEL FRAME, MASONRY ENCASED.
>> WE CAME UPON A SMALL DOOR THAT LED TO A LOWER BALCONY.
THE MAYOR STEPPED OUT TO TAKE IN THE VIEW.
>> OLD FIRST CHURCH, AND YOU SEE THE HISTORIC BONES OF THE CITY
OF SPRINGFIELD.
THIS IS ONLY HALFWAY UP.
LESS THAN HALFWAY UP.
BEAUTIFUL VIEW.
>> AFTER SEVERAL MORE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS, WE REACHED THE OLD
MECHANISM THAT OPERATED THE 14-FOOT DIAMETER CLOCK.
>> THIS IS THE MECHANISM FOR THE CLOCK, THE CLOCK HANDS OUT
FRONT.
YOU CAN SEE HOW SIMPLE IT IS, BUT YET SO SOPHISTICATED.
EVERYTHING HAD TO BE ADJUSTED JUST RIGHT SO ALL THE CLOCKS
WERE DOING THE SAME TIME AND THAT'S ALL DONE RIGHT THERE.
>> A FEW MORE LEVELS UP AND WE REACH THE TOP.
THE MAYOR'S AIDE, MARY ANN SULLIVAN, WAS THE FIRST TO PUSH
OPEN THE DOOR AND STEP OUT ON THE BALCONY TO TAKE IN THE VIEW.
DURING THE 50'S AND 60'S A TRIP TO THE TOP OF THE CAMPANILE WAS
A POPULAR TOURISTS ATTRACTION FOR VISITORS AND RESIDENTS
ALIKE, ACCORDING TO LOCAL HISTORIAN FRANCES GAGNON.
>> THERE IS A PUBLICATION, WHICH I HAVE, I HAVE COLLECTED ALL
THINGS CAMPANILE, AND IT SHOWS ALL OF THE DIFFERENT CITIES AS
FAR AWAY AS MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT WHICH IS 39 MILES.
ON A GOOD DAY YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT FAR AWAY.
>> AFTER TAKING IN THE VIEW AND CATCHING OUR BREATH FROM THE
LONG CLIMB UP, WE CONTINUED UP EVEN HIGHER, SCALING THE LADDER
TO THE BELLFRY TO LOOK AT THE 12 BRONZE BELLS.
>> THE BELLS WERE A SOURCE OF GREAT JOY TO PEOPLE, THERE WAS
AN OFFICIAL SPRINGFIELD BELL RINGER, AND THERE WAS A WOODEN
MECHANISM OF LEVERS AND IT WAS HARD WORK.
>> THOSE WOODEN LEVERS WERE LATER REPLACED WITH A KEYBOARD.
DURING OUR VISIT WE WERE ABLE TO HEAR A FEW OF THE BELLS RING.
IT WAS THIS THE EARLY 1970'S THAT THE INTEREST IN THE
CAMPANILE BEGAN TO WANE.
FAMILIES WERE MOVING AWAY FROM DOWNTOWN AS MALLS AND
NEIGHBORHOODS WERE BEING DEVELOPED.
>> SPRINGFIELD WAS A CITY LOOKING TOWARD ITS OUTLYING
AREAS, AND SO THAT'S WHERE THE ACTION WAS AND SO NOT SO MUCH
MONEY WAS BEING PUT INTO SOME OF OUR HISTORIC TREASURES.
>> TODAY WITH THE NEW DEVELOPMENT IN DOWNTOWN COMES A
NEW INTEREST IN RESTORING SOME OF THOSE TREASURES, LIKE THE
CAMPANILE, AND DESPITE THE LOFTY PRICE TAG THERE SEEMS TO BE A
COMMITMENT TO RESTORE A PIECE OF SPRINGFIELD'S HISTORY.
>> COURT SQUARE, OLD FIRST CHURCH IS THERE.
EVERYTHING, THE GATHERINGS, WOULD OCCUR HERE, WHETHER IN
CELEBRATION, WHETHER IN SORROW, WHETHER TO MARK ANNIVERSARIES,
IT WAS ALWAYS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION.
THE BEACON OF HOPE, OF STRENGTH, AND POWER.
AND EMPOWERMENT FOR THE PEOPLE OF SPRINGFIELD.