Back in July 2008, thunderstorms blew down much of the steeple at
Zion Lutheran Church near Tobias, Nebraska, a town of about 150 in Southwest Saline County.

The bell survived the fall, but its cradle was damaged.

When 10/11 first ran the story about Zion Lutheran Church, Pastor Ryan Meyer said about 2/3 of the steeple collapsed due to high winds. He said the historic church was more than 100 years-old. At the time, church members gathered to clean up debris and worship services continued shortly after.

Now the church has finally raised enough money to replace the steeple and re-hang the thousand pound bell and installation began Monday November 30th.

“We have transported the steeple to the church and plan is to lift the steeple during the week of Monday, Nov. 30. Once the steeple is lifted, there will be some construction necessary to complete the work,” said Nick Suminski, Paul Davis Restoration of Grand Island office owner. “The bell tower and steeple were constructed in two separate pieces. We will lift the structures onto the church with a crane using cables that have been built into the structure,” he said. “After the structure is set in place, the cables will be trimmed and reused to aid in securing the new structure to existing structure,” said Suminski.

Suminski and Randy Dye, the company’s associate, recently worked with their crew to prepare the building for the installation. They also determined that a new concrete foundation needed to be poured to correct the lack of proper foundation required to support the restored structure. They also had to build a 40-foot, 8 inch by 8 inch laminated corner post due to previous building deterioration, among other improvements.

“The church steeple and bell tower project holds great significance in Tobias and in southeast Nebraska. The town of Tobias is a small rural community with a population of only 151 residents,” said Suminski. “Zion Lutheran Church was founded and organized in 1879 while the farming community was formally incorporated in 1884,” he said. “The church constructed its initial building in its current rural setting in 1900 and in 1907, a 1,500 pound church bell was brought to the church by train and a team of horses and was pulled up into the bell tower by means of block and tackle,” said Suminski. “However, the building was struck by lightening and burned to the ground that same year. Another building and exact duplicate structure was built and dedicated in 1908,” he said.

According to Suminski, the bell tower and steeple blew off of the church in high winds in July 2008.

“The base of the bell tower was approximately 40 feet off the ground and the bell tower and steeple were destroyed in the fall,” he said. “The bell tower is close to 13 feet tall and the steeple is 32 feet tall, with the cross another five feet above that. The bell survived the fall however the cradle and hammer for the bell was damaged,” Suminski said.

Paul Davis Restoration of Grand Island was contacted on July 31, 2008 just after the disastrous incident. After meetings with church contacts along with an engineer, architect and adjuster it was decided that an engineer was required to draw and design a new bell tower and steeple to fit with current building codes and standards and duplicated as close to the original as possible.

“The work authorization was signed on March 2 of this year and the remains of the bell tower and steeple were loaded onto a semi trailer and hauled to our work location in Grand Island. The bell was taken to a local welding and machine shop for remanufacturing of the cradle,” said Suminski.

If the weather is permitting and the bell tower is fully replaced, there will be a brief dedication ceremony at the beginning of their worship service Sunday. Church services are at 8:30 a.m.

The congregation was founded in 1879.