The Bell Tower Restoration

Throughout the Independence area there are screen prints that, once you notice them, are really cool.  See what might look like a sketch of the Bell Tower on the left?  They had life size screen prints on all four sides of the bell tower designed to "hide" the scaffolds and restoration taking place.

The restoration will be comprehensive from the weather vane down.  They've x-rayed the wood siding and discovered imbedded iron rods are rusted away or failing, brick and mortar will be replaced or repaired, windows and doors in the tower will be removed, refurbished, and replaced, the clock face joints will be repaired, balustrades and column capitals will be refurbished, and the metal ball below the weather vane will be re-soldered where it has split open.  Until all of this is done, no visitor is allowed in the tower.  Even after they finish I'm not sure they'll let John Q. Public up there.

We were, however, allowed on the second floor of Independence Hall.  It's a great long room used for banquets, dances, and meetings.  There were small rooms off to the side, one of which was the armory for the Minute Men.  There were flintlocks, gunpowder, bayonets, swords - everything they might need to defend the colony.  (Ever heard the term "lock, stock, and barrel," meaning "the whole thing?"  That comes from guns - the whole thing consisted of the lock, stock, and barrel.  If you packed replacement parts, that meant you were movin' on and had everything you need to feed and protect yourself.)

Can you use your vast and vivid imagination to hear the State House bell ringing and see Minute Men coming from all directions to get weapons and form up on the greenspace out in front of the State House, all the while looking for the dreaded red coats of the British ?  As the people of this century walk around Independence Square, if you pay attention, you will suddenly see locals dressed in the attire of 1776 walking briskly through the crowds.  How fun!