Bell Tower

After tolling the time for decades, Columbia's iconic lakefront bell tower will soon be taken down due to safety concerns, according to an announcement from the Columbia Association. The bell tower is now roped off at the end of a wooden dock at Lake Kittamaqundi, and will be dismantled sometime in late May or early June, according to CA officials. It will be rebuilt once the planned redevelopment of the area gets underway in several years. Discussion of tower removal has been underway for four years, but a recent examination by Century Engineering showed what were called "major deficiencies" in the structure, though it is not thought to pose any imminent danger.

A few weeks ago, I spent a few quiet minutes in Green Mount Cemetery, where its higher ground offers unexpected views of Baltimore. As I looked to the southeast, something curious caught my eye. What was going on in the nearby Oliver neighborhood? What was that thing attached to the mighty bell tower of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church? This parish — the oldest African-American Roman Catholic congregation in the United States officially founded for people of color — has just begun to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

A few weeks ago, I spent a few quiet minutes in Green Mount Cemetery, where its higher ground offers unexpected views of Baltimore. As I looked to the southeast, something curious caught my eye. What was going on in the nearby Oliver neighborhood? What was that thing attached to the mighty bell tower of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church? This parish — the oldest African-American Roman Catholic congregation in the United States officially founded for people of color — has just begun to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

The community of the Church of St. Mark in Fallston will celebrate its 125th anniversary this weekend. The event will begin with a Mass of Remembrance today (Friday, Sept. 28), and will culminate in a Mass on Sunday, Sept. 30, with dedication of the new bell tower and walkway. As part of the celebration, a horse and buggy will carry the St. Mark's pastor, Father Jerry Francik, and Archbishop of Baltimore William E. Lori to the church for the anniversary Mass at 2:45 p.m Sunday, as would have happened 125 years ago. At the conclusion of the Mass, around 4:45 p.m., parishioners will join with the archbishop and the pastor in dedicating the walkway and bell tower.

For sale: House with 20-foot ceilings. Comes with working bell tower. Buyer must like stained-glass windows. In historic Ellicott City, you can purchase all sorts of unusual homes -- even one that spent 127 years as a church. The building, which overlooks Main Street from one of the town's many hills, belongs to a real estate agent who bought it in 2002, gave it an upscale overhaul and recently decided that it was too much space for one woman and one dog. A church-to-house conversion is uncommon, but this is the era of new twists on old buildings -- especially when they result in more homes in this regional market with greater demand than supply.

Religious and political leaders have called for the park at the site of old Memorial Stadium to be used for thanksgiving and meditation. Now, after a ceremony yesterday honoring the patriarch of one of the city's best-known political families, those leaders are adding one more use: remembrance. City and state officials unveiled the new Curran Family Bell Tower - dedicated to the late City Councilman J. Joseph Curran Sr., the father of former Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. and the grandfather of District Judge Catherine Curran O'Malley, wife of Gov. Martin O'Malley.

The bell tower in the Rotunda shopping center building is close to tolling clock chimes again after a five-year silence. And those Roman numerals will be watched once again. Overlooking a panorama of the city -- from Hampden and Roland Park to the downtown skyline -- foreman Steven Sadler stood on the Rotunda roof near the belfry Friday and explained why workers used the technique of "speckling" thumbtack-sized dots of black paint on the tower's terra cotta. "It's to make the terra cotta look original," said Sadler, who works for Worcester Eisenbrandt Inc. His team's intricate workmanship can't been seen from the streets below, but Sadler expects the look to last.

While some cellular phone towers are disguised as evergreens, palm trees or flagpoles, St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church near Towson is considering putting up a bell tower to hide a proposed 100-footer.The church -- which stands to gain thousands of dollars in rental income for allowing the tower to be built on its property -- hopes the camouflage will appeal to neighbors.So far, residents of the nearby Rodgers Forge community aren't convinced by the plan."We haven't seen an artist's rendering," said Rich DeNardi, who lives in the 200 block of Overbrook Road next to the church.

The community of the Church of St. Mark in Fallston will celebrate its 125th anniversary this weekend. The event will begin with a Mass of Remembrance today (Friday, Sept. 28), and will culminate in a Mass on Sunday, Sept. 30, with dedication of the new bell tower and walkway. As part of the celebration, a horse and buggy will carry the St. Mark's pastor, Father Jerry Francik, and Archbishop of Baltimore William E. Lori to the church for the anniversary Mass at 2:45 p.m Sunday, as would have happened 125 years ago. At the conclusion of the Mass, around 4:45 p.m., parishioners will join with the archbishop and the pastor in dedicating the walkway and bell tower.

Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa, by Nicholas Shrady. Simon & Schuster. 192 pages. $21.95. A shrewd little combination history, travelogue and architecture / engineering analysis of what must be Earth's pre-eminent weird building. To make the point, the publisher has manufactured the volume on the bias -- the spine rises at a 15-degree tilt from the vertical, though the Tower of Pisa itself, today, leans only 5 degrees, and leaned 1.6 degrees when built in 1370. The structure -- actually a campanile, a bell tower -- has challenged, worried, delighted and angered technicians and aesthetes for all the 520-some years of its life.

The stone marker in Catonsville Presbyterian Church's steeple tower is dated 1921, dedicated "to the Glory of God. " Next to it is a black ladder with caution signs tied to its rungs, warning of radio frequency fields in the narrow space above. In the steeple overlooking Frederick Road, three cell phone companies have placed antennas, serving a growing demand for smartphones, iPads and other gadgets. Such leasing arrangements help Catonsville Presbyterian and other Baltimore-area churches raise revenue, while companies get access to neighborhoods where it is difficult to build free-standing cell towers.

Submit notices via email: owingsmillstimes@patuxent.com ; fax: 410-332-6336; or mail: Owings Mills Times, 501 N. Calvert St., third floor, Baltimore, MD 21278. Include sponsor or host, date, time, address of event, contact name and phone number. Deadline is noon the Wednesday before publication. Arts and Entertainment Summer Carillon Concert Series — McDonogh School, 86 McDongh Road, Owings Mills, Tagart Memorial Chapel Fridays in July, 7-8 p.m. Tours of the bell tower available after each recital.

After tolling the time for decades, Columbia's iconic lakefront bell tower will soon be taken down due to safety concerns, according to an announcement from the Columbia Association. The bell tower is now roped off at the end of a wooden dock at Lake Kittamaqundi, and will be dismantled sometime in late May or early June, according to CA officials. It will be rebuilt once the planned redevelopment of the area gets underway in several years. Discussion of tower removal has been underway for four years, but a recent examination by Century Engineering showed what were called "major deficiencies" in the structure, though it is not thought to pose any imminent danger.

Religious and political leaders have called for the park at the site of old Memorial Stadium to be used for thanksgiving and meditation. Now, after a ceremony yesterday honoring the patriarch of one of the city's best-known political families, those leaders are adding one more use: remembrance. City and state officials unveiled the new Curran Family Bell Tower - dedicated to the late City Councilman J. Joseph Curran Sr., the father of former Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. and the grandfather of District Judge Catherine Curran O'Malley, wife of Gov. Martin O'Malley.

THE PROBLEM -- A clock and carillon bells atop a memorial tower near York Road and Woodbourne Avenue in Govans have not worked for many years. THE BACKSTORY -- Peg Massey of North Baltimore wrote Watchdog asking about the "lovely tower with bells & a clock in the center." She said the bells haven't rung and the clock hands haven't moved past 3 o'clock in many years. "Perhaps," she wrote, "if it were put into working order it would be more meaningful to the neighbors." Massey's question takes the Watchdog down memory lane.

For sale: House with 20-foot ceilings. Comes with working bell tower. Buyer must like stained-glass windows. In historic Ellicott City, you can purchase all sorts of unusual homes -- even one that spent 127 years as a church. The building, which overlooks Main Street from one of the town's many hills, belongs to a real estate agent who bought it in 2002, gave it an upscale overhaul and recently decided that it was too much space for one woman and one dog. A church-to-house conversion is uncommon, but this is the era of new twists on old buildings -- especially when they result in more homes in this regional market with greater demand than supply.

The bells will ring again Sunday atop Taneytown's Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was struck by lightning Monday night and briefly engulfed by flames.Pastor John Douglas said lightning struck the top of the historic six-story bell tower about 8:40 p.m. Monday, igniting a small fire there.Fire companies from Taneytown, Union Bridge and Harney were joined by crews from Emmitsburg in Frederick County and Barlow and Littlestown in Adams County, Pa., to quickly extinguish the blaze.

"The Bell Tower: The Mystery of Jack the Ripper Finally Solved," by Robert Graysmith. Regnery. 552 pages. $24.95.Who was the fiend who over a few weeks in the fall of 1888 stalked prostitutes of tawdry east-end London, leaving at least five with throats slit ear-to-ear, four skillfully disemboweled, unsullied by sex, missing no more of value than kidneys and wombs-- and in one case a heart?Contemporary clues were few. Letters, many written by a self-proclaimed "Jack the Ripper," were likely hoaxes, including the package, possibly linked to a victim, containing half a kidney with a message: "tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise."

Tilt: A Skewed History of the Tower of Pisa, by Nicholas Shrady. Simon & Schuster. 192 pages. $21.95. A shrewd little combination history, travelogue and architecture / engineering analysis of what must be Earth's pre-eminent weird building. To make the point, the publisher has manufactured the volume on the bias -- the spine rises at a 15-degree tilt from the vertical, though the Tower of Pisa itself, today, leans only 5 degrees, and leaned 1.6 degrees when built in 1370. The structure -- actually a campanile, a bell tower -- has challenged, worried, delighted and angered technicians and aesthetes for all the 520-some years of its life.

Rotunda shoppers, merchants and neighbors paused yesterday morning as the four bronze bells in the Italianate tower on West 40th Street in North Baltimore struck 11 o'clock. It was the first time the bells had been rung in several years. Many greeted the ringing of the bells as a sign of revival at the community landmark. To mark the moment, the Western High School chorus sang "Ding Dong! Merrily on High." Over the years, water and weather damaged the bell tower to the point where the clock had to be shut down to prevent further deterioration, Rotunda officials said.