[May 19, 2013] Can Beaver Falls recooperate the cupula? Tweet BEAVER FALLS, May 19, 2013 (Beaver County Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The cupola may have earned a stay of execution. The 85-year-old, dome-shaped structure atop the Beaver Falls city building was scheduled to be demolished this summer, but a groundswell of support and a view from the top may provide new life. On Saturday, Mayor George Quay III and Councilman Doug Carson inspected the cupola. "I think it is certainly worth checking out," Carson said of the possibility of restoring the cupola. "I'm not a professional metal worker, but it seemed to me to be structurally pretty sound. I think there is a possibility we could save it. We need to take a good look at it." Through May 13, Beaver Falls accepted bids to demolish the cupola and replace it with a four-sided, peaked roof. City administrator Steve Johnson described the cupola as "badly deteriorating." The cupola, a gazebo-like structure that houses a bell, has been atop the city building since it was constructed in 1928. The building, located at 715 15th St., accommodates the police department, the fire department and city administrative offices. Carson said from the street, it appears that the cupola is wooden, and the wood is deteriorating. "When you get up there, you can see there is a whole steel structure holding up the cupola," he said. "That gave me some confidence that it could be replaced." From the ground, Beaver Falls historians have been rallying to save the cupola. The cupola was the subject of a meeting of the Beaver Falls Historical Society this past week. "If we can repair the cupola, we will be restoring a piece of old Beaver Falls, which is slowly disappearing," Betty Anderson, a board member with the historical society, said. Anderson said the society would like to see the bell used again to celebrate special events. "We'd be tickled to hear it ring again." Carson said the bell, like the structure that protects it, needs work. "The hammer for the bell is frozen and rusted, but I think it could probably be repaired." The next step in the process has not yet been determined, but Carson endorses continued study. "We have to take a good, hard look at repairing it before we demolish it," he said. Anderson provides a similar endorsement. "People are disheartened," she said. "We're losing churches and other bits and pieces of people's lives. I know we're older, but we think preserving history is important." ___ (c)2013 the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.) Visit the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.) at www.timesonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]