THOMASVILLE — A Grady County symbol has returned to its rightful resting place.

Work is being finished on the Grady Bell-Clock Tower, installed on the lawn of the Grady County Courthouse March 21.

“The only thing we lack doing is putting down a few more bricks around the base and then re-sodding where we messed the lawn up,” said Wayne Hadden, committee member. “Then we’re done.”

The bell-clock tower is approximately 25 feet tall and is three-sided (six feet by six feet). It cost approximately $70,000.

The 2,300-pound bell was cast in 1908 and put in a bell tower in the courthouse. When the courthouse burned in the early 1980s, it was not re-hung when the facility was rebuilt.

The bell was sent to Cincinnati to be professionally sand-blasted, cleaned and checked for cracks in 2005. Some cracks were discovered and the bell will hang but not ring.

The committee has been raising the money since January 2006 by selling bricks or spaces on the tower monument approved by the Grady County Board of Commissioners to go on the courthouse lawn. It has also been accepting donations.

The committee met — and slightly exceeded — its $80,000 project goal in October 2006. This was done in part to large donations and grants and smaller, single donations.

Hadden said approximately 80 bricks have been sold but some are still available by contacting the Cairo-Grady County Chamber of Commerce.

The outer ring is $100 per brick, the inner ring is $200 per brick and $500 to get on the monument.

“The monument will go under the bell,” said Hadden. “It’s already been ordered, but people can still get their names on it. Availability is going to be very limited because we will not add names to the monument after it is in place. That should be another week or two, at most. It is black granite about three and a half feet tall, three-sided and a foot in diameter.”

The new tower plays up to 400 different tunes and is powered by its own small, hand-held controller. Its current tune is a “Westminster Oaks type chime” commonly found in such towers, Hadden said.

“It rings every quarter hour, and people seem to be excited about that,” said Rick Kines, committee member. “I’ve seen people stop by at night and look at it. I’m well pleased at what it looks like and it being there.”

Hadden seconded the community’s support of the tower.

“It’s been so much fun and people say they are glad to hear it again and glad that it is up there,” he said. “An elderly lady came to me and said she was sorry that she was not able to financially support the project but followed it and was glad to see it back on the courthouse lawn and hear it chiming. She said she remembered the old courthouse and the bell ringing when she would come to town as a little girl. It meant so much to her to hear it chiming again. It’s been very pleasing to hear positive comments like that. It makes the whole effort worthwhile.”

A dedication ceremony date has still not been set, but Hadden and Kines said one should be planned for the near future, once work is completed on the project.

“There will be a little ceremony as soon as we can put it together,” said Kines. “The committee will get together and set a date soon.”



Reporter Teresa Williams can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 225.