Town Clock Church dedicates replica gasolier, completes restoration

May 18—NEW ALBANY — With the final 12-burner gasolier once again hanging in the Town Clock Church, the eight-year renovation project has come to an end.

When Friends of the Town Clock Church started to save and renovate the building, originally completed in 1852, they knew that they wanted to see the large chandelier shedding light in the room.

"We see this light fixture as sort of the crown jewel, a cherry on an ice cream sundae," Friends of the Town Clock Church Treasurer Jerry Finn said.

In the 1960s the church was undergoing interior painting and the gasolier disappeared. Finn said that they spent a long time looking for the original gasolier to no avail.

A replica gasolier was found in St. Louis, but Finn said it would have cost them $250,000. Instead, the group decided to have a replica custom-made in Port Townsend, Wash., for a tenth of the cost.

Finn said that the replica was made to match the other original four-burner gasoliers still hanging in the room.

Made of polished brass with glass globes, the new six-foot wide, 350-pound gasolier is centered below the original ornamental medallion.

About 15 people congregated in the pews of the upstairs room in the Town Clock Church, or Second Baptist Church, on Wednesday to celebrate the dedication of the gasolier.

The new light fixture symbolizes a number of things, according to Finn, including the completion of the restoration project.

"To be able to put that back and shed light in a world that, more than ever, today needs light," he said, "when we look at what's happening in our country, and our world, even in our community, we need that light above."

In the 19th Century, the church was a stop on the Underground Railroad to aid freedom seekers escaping slavery in Kentucky.

Rev. LeRoy Marshall, pastor of the church, said the new gasolier is dedicated to those who fought against the Fugitive Slave Act in the church.

"We dedicate and bless this light that we might always be a light forward and for those who have yet to come, for who this building will be a beacon of hope and an inspiration to always act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God," Marshall said

Finn said that the original gasolier shed light on the congregation that decided to break the unjust law to do the right thing for the community.

"That gasolier shed light on a community who risked a lot to be able to do that," Finn said. "Even more so it shed light on the freed Black community here in our own community."

While Friends of the Town Clock Church has completed renovation of the church, they will be working on restoration to ensure that it can keep the doors open.

Marshall said it was like a dream come true to see the restoration process finished and see the gasolier hanging from the ceiling.

When the group was in the preliminary phase of the restoration in 2012, Marshall said that they were told the building was not salvageable.

"To see where we've gone from then to now is really amazing," he said, "We consider it a blessing that we're able to continue the work, and a blessing that the community has helped us with the work."