ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – Have you heard the bell at the historic Altamonte Chapel on State Road 436?
It will soon be ringing again.
Our News 6 crew was there as repairs on the iconic bell and bell tower were finished Friday. Board of Directors President Kathy Starks said it belongs there.
“It is very emotional,” said Starks. “It’s like, ‘finally.’ We’ve been planning this for a long time. It’s been a lot of work, but we’ve had great helpers, great people, just carrying the bell for us.”
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The small congregations discovered the bell tower was in desperate need of repair after putting everything they had into restoring the 139-year-old chapel last year.
“We got through all of it, we were like, ‘It looks so beautiful, but what is that?’” said Serina Colon, who manages the office. “And we looked up to the bell tower, and you could see kind of like a little dark mark on the side of it.”
The chapel was originally built in 1885 as the Lake Brantley Union Church. It was designed by a Boston architect, and settlers from New England would worship there during the winter months. In 1898, a hard freeze destroyed the citrus groves, and a lot of the settlers moved back north and left the chapel abandoned.
It was eventually reverted back to the original landowners, who then used it as collateral for their daughters to attend Rollins College. By 1905, Colon said another family found the chapel and purchased it from the college, and decided to move it to the Altamonte area.
Colon said the bell was forged when the chapel was moved to Altamonte. In the early 1900’s the steeple was constructed and the bell was placed, and it’s been there ever since.
It now rings every Sunday during service and at weddings. Colon, who is also an event planner, says they host about 30 ceremonies each year, and it’s become a big part of what keeps the church operating.
“We love to do weddings here, and that is a big part of our ministry. At the end of every wedding, they ring the bell,” said Colon. “Every photographer gets a wonderful shot of the bride and the groom ringing the bell. The family cheers, and it’s something that we don’t want to lose. It’s a big part of who we are.”
When they discovered the damage to the bell tower, the congregation turned to the community to raise money for the costly repairs.
Starks said many people have donated time, work, and money in order to make their congregation whole again.
“It means so much. I’ve been a member of this church for 53 years, and we’ve always had the bell there,” said Starks. “And, so to be without it for a few weeks has just kind of been like part of your body missing. But now it’s going back up and we’re going to be whole again.”
Starks said the bell was taken to Sanford to be cleaned and restored, but while it was on its way to the shop, parts of the cast iron cradle crumbled. But now the bell is back together and back at its resting place.
“It’s amazing the people that did step up for us and even the people that drove through,” said Starks. “I was here one day watching it. There was a couple that drove through that had got married here, and they saw the bell was missing and so they wanted to come see. Because of that, they said they would like to come back to church here. It’s really been an awesome experience.”
Starks said there is no way they could have done it without the community’s support.
“There‘s no way,” said Starks. “We’re just a small, little church, and churches are dwindling in size and, you know, giving is limited. People are on limited budgets. We are an older church, you know, not without the help of everyone else behind us. I wish they were all here today.”