by Joan Eliyesil ·
Friday, December 18, 2015
The new lantern is placed atop Town Hall Friday, Dec. 18. (Photo by Lisa Aciiukewicz)
The placement of the new lantern on top of Town Hall went off without a hitch on Friday morning, Dec. 18, although painters were working up until almost 8:30 a.m. to make up for time lost to rain on the day before. At about 8:45 a.m., a 140-foot crane hoisted the lantern to its base. It was a tense 15 minutes as the crowd of about 50 people watched the lantern sway in the light wind, but at exactly 9 a.m., the ringing of the clock on the Unitarian Church announced the successful placement of its new neighbor. Harvard firemen watching the dramatic scene from Engine four nearby sounded the siren in welcome.
Before being lifted, a six foot white pine tree was affixed to the top of the lantern in a “topping off” ceremony, thought to bring good luck to the building occupants. George Wattendorf, president of GVW, Inc., the contractor for the renovation project, placed the tree in a hole in the lantern’s roof that will eventually hold the weathervane.
Some work remains to be done on the bottom half of the lantern, including the installation of a railing that will go all the way around the structure. In addition, architectural trim will go above the arched windows on all sides, and a rubberized floor will be installed to protect the lantern base from the weather. The size of the structure is 13 feet square by 17 feet high. It is meant to be purely decorative, although Peter Warren of Lancaster County Road was overheard telling Building Inspector Gabe Vellante, “I hear that’s where your office is going to go.”