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16 FOCUS - MAY 201516 FOCUS - MAY 2015 Two sections of the replica bell tower are seen here being moved along Queen St. towards the Town Hall on a atbed truck in May 1975. Port Perrys Town Hall after the original bell tower was removed in 1951. Port Perrys Town Hall 1873 has undergone many changes over the past cen- tury but possibly one of the most dramatic changes took place in 1951 when the decorative bell tower on top of the halls two-storey brick edifice was removed. The aging wooden structure upper left had been considered unsafe for a number of years. In fact as early as 1939 the bell tower had been slated for removal during renovations of the hall which included replacement of the roof enlargement of the stage and front entrance. But it was more than a decade later when council decided it was a hazard to the public and ordered it removed. The bell tower was finally removed from the hall in October 1951 by local contractor Ed Storey who replaced it with an unattract- ive squat peak seen in the photo A Crown for Queen St.A Crown for Queen St. Marjorie Letcher The original Town Hall tower as it looked in 1935 with a ag pole and large circular space left a clock but the clock was never installed. Below the new bell tower after it was installed. on opposite page. For the next 24 years this important municipal building sat crowned with its unimpressive cap. The Town Hall 1873 Committee was formed in 1974 to save the aging hall from destruction. They began a campaign to raise funds to renovate both the interior and exterior of the communitys historic town hall. One of the driving forces behind the project and in having the tower replaced was Marjorie Letcher wife of Merlin Letcher who had served as Port Perrys Reeve for 13 years from 1933 to 1945. Mrs. Letcher donated 10000 toward the construction and replacement of an identical replica of the tower. Its believed this project