The bell of the Cumberland Church awaits being lifted back into its tower this morning, Jan. 16, 2026.
Kept in storage since 2013, the bell of the historic Cumberland Church was being prepared to be lifted back into its tower this morning.
The former Albany church dates from 1892 and was moved from its original location in 2021. The Cumberland Community Events Center, a nonprofit composed of volunteers, is restoring the building, now at the corner of Santiam Road and Pine Street.
“This is another visible milestone achieved as we work to repurpose this historic structure to become a community center,” said Joel Orton, treasurer of the events center group.
The 134-year-old bell had been stored by the City of Albany after the city had it taken down for safety reasons. The city bought the old church in 2000 for a road construction project.
The events center group acquired he building to save it and had it moved from its original site at Santiam Road and Main Street. The group had the bell refurbished at a cost of about $7,000. This included some roofing work to accommodate a rope so the bell can be run from inside the building.
Wallace Construction, of Lebanon, took the 800-pound bell down in 2013 and worked to reinstall it on Friday.
Restoration work inside the building continues. Depending on the pace and success of fund raising, the group hopes to be able to open the building for public events in 2027.
I’ll update the story after the bell has been put back in place. (hh)
The scene at 1:30 p.m. Friday: Work continued to prepare the tower to receive the bell.
Meanwhile, here’s the inside of the Cumberland building on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.
Emma Eaton, president of the Cumberland group, sent me this shot of the bell being returned to its home Friday afternoon.
The Friends of the Library sponsors noon-hour talks at the Albany Main Library once a month most of the months out of the year. The January talk was on the progress of saving the old Cumberland Presbyterian Church as a Community Center. And, they have saved the church, and have most all of the exterior work done. It looks wonderful.
I’M GLAD TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS & IT DIDN’T COST 22 MILLION EITHER…OH MY..
But… $7k to refurbish a belI???
I would love to have that job for the money!
At least it didn’t get “Lost” in storage, and is being reinstalled!
That’s for all the work to clean the bell, remove the paint and rust, cover it with a protective layer, and do the construction to get it mounted again.
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
It certainly wasn’t free with the city purchasing the original lot because of their ongoing incompetence in real estate.
Then they have the audacity to put Yohn Baldwin through the wringer for swales & street improvements beyond reasonable requirements. Things that would have been on their (our) dime if they’d kept that property.
Just wait and the city will give them the 2 adjacent lots for a pittance.
How many sq. ft. in the main room? Thank-You.
Roger,
Thank for asking. The middle open area is 1472 square feet. The original one roomed building, are now bookends that total 1032 square feet.
Thanks again for asking!