Cobblestone schoolhouse bell tower gets some attention

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 December 2019 at 1:27 pm

Photos by Tom Rivers

GAINES – Bob Fisher of Robert Fisher Contracting Inc. in Kendall is about 26 feet up high today, working on the base of the bell tower roof at the Cobblestone schoolhouse.

Fisher on Friday set up the scaffolding for the lofty work. Today he removed old tine from the bell tower roof on the schoolhouse, which was built in 1849 and is part of the Cobblestone Museum, a National Historic Landmark on Route 104.

Fisher is putting in new plywood sheeting and aluminum for the roof on the base of the bell tower roof. He expects to be finished with the project on Tuesday.

Fisher heads down the ladder on the schoolhouse, which closed in the 1950s and remains largely preserved by the Cobblestone Museum from the era when it was an active schoolhouse.

Fisher said working on older buildings requires some ingenuity. “They’re always interesting,” he said about the historic sites. “You never know what you’ll run into.”

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