After a century of silence, the historic bells will ring again at Halifax City Hall – Halifax | The Canadian News

Silenced for more than a century, two massive bells were expected to be reinstalled today inside the clock tower at Halifax City Hall, including one that was likely damaged by the Halifax explosion in 1917.

The Victorian-style building was built between 1887 and 1890, and in 1904 the clock on the seven-story tower was added.

At least one of the bronze bells being restored was installed at some point during that period and is believed to have been damaged when the city was rocked by a massive explosion caused by the collision of two wartime ships in the port of El December 6, 1917.

It’s unclear when the bells were removed from the tower, but the city says it was likely within two decades of the explosion.

Since 1995, a recording of the bells inside Big Ben, the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster in London, has been broadcast through loudspeakers to mimic the sound of the original bells.

The reinstalled bells will be rung by an automated system every quarter of an hour.

“These historic bells will ring the same as they did more than a hundred years ago, and they may ring differently than the electronic bells that rang (the) recording,” the city said in a statement.

The two clock faces on either side of the tower were replaced in 1999.

One of the clocks had been frozen since the explosion in 1917, marking the exact time of the explosion: 9:04 a.m. M.

Its replacement, which overlooks Duke Street, also remains closed at the same time as a tribute to the nearly 2,000 people killed by the explosion and subsequent fires. Another 9,000 were injured and 25,000 were left homeless.

This Canadian Press report was first published on October 30, 2021.