Bell tower to be restored for historic anniversary
- Source: Global Times
- [11:22 March 11 2011]
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The bell tower stands on Zhonghua Road Thursday. Photo: Cai Xianmin
By Liu Shengnan
In time for the centennial anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution on October 10, the city plans to restore the historic bell tower at Xiaonanmen in Huangpu district, local authorities said Thursday.
In Xiaonanmen, the bell tower on Zhonghua Road reaches a height of 35 meters. The bell was rung on November 3, 1911 to announce Shanghai's joining of the revolution that led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911).
Listed as an Unmovable Cultural Relic by the district in 2000, the bell housed in the concrete-tower, which now locates in a local police station, has rusted over the years.
"We want to repair the bell before it deteriorates further, and it becomes even more difficult to restore," Li Mingjun, section chief of Huangpu district's cultural relics bureau, told the Global Times Thursday. "The tower is also badly weathered, and we will renovate it as well."
He said that authorities have wanted to undertake the project for years, but planning for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai put it on the district's backburner until now.
"We plan to start the repairs by April," he said. "We can't wait much longer because the bell tower isn't in very good shape - it really needs to be reinforced now."
Though the repairs will cost the district some 500,000 yuan ($76,100), Li said that it would be less expensive to do the repairs now rather than later, when further damage would make the task more costly.