On Dec. 18 a crane lifts the lantern to its new home atop Town Hall. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
The placement of the new lantern on top of Town Hall went off without a hitch on the morning of Dec. 18, although painters were working up until the last minute to make up for time lost to rain the day before. At 8:45 a.m. a crowd of about 50 people watched a 140-foot crane hoist the lantern up to the peak of the building. A light wind kept the lantern swaying for a tense 15 minutes, but workers were able to secure it onto its base at exactly 9 a.m., when the ringing of the bell on the Unitarian Church seemed to welcome its new neighbor.
The structure is 13 feet square by 17 feet high and was designed to match the lantern that was taken down in 1949 because it had fallen into disrepair. Before the lantern was lifted to its new home, a 6-foot white pine tree was affixed to its peak in a “topping-off” ceremony, thought to bring good luck to the building occupants. George Wattendorf, president of GVW Inc. (the project contractor), placed the tree in a hole in the lantern’s roof that will eventually hold a weathervane.
Although the lantern is meant to be purely decorative, spectator Peter Warren of Lancaster County Road was overheard telling Building Inspector Gabe Vellante, “I hear that’s where your office is going to go.”
