The New Testament Church on New Ipswich’s Main Street has gotten a facelift, after a Heritage Commission project to restore the steeple clock face and to repaint the steeple itself.
Town Administrator Deb Deaton, a member of the Heritage Commission, said that while the church building itself is not owned by the town, the clock is. Prior to the repair, the clock was in bad condition, with the gold numbers and clock face tarnished to black, one number missing altogether and in bad need of cleaning.
Trifecta Painting completed the restoration, including repainting the steeple base where the clock is seated, for a cost of about $7,100.
Deaton said this is the first substantial project the Heritage Commission has tackled in some time, but it won’t be the last. The commission is already planning its next project, which includes cleaning up and reinstalling wrought-iron fencing around the town war memorial by the former Appleton Elementary School. Deaton said for some time, it wasn’t known where the fencing was, until a portion of it was found stored at the Transfer Station, and the other half at the town’s Department of Public Works garage.
Deaton said the Heritage Commission plans to sandblast the iron, prime and repaint it before reinstalling it around the war memorial, where it was originally located.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscipt.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.