by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
It went from high inside a building designed by Henry John Klutho to a prominent spot in a new public building.
Next came years of obscurity hidden away in a basement followed by a permanent place of honor and remembrance.
That’s the 109-year year provenance of the bell that’s the centerpiece of the Fireman’s Memorial at the Jacksonville Fire & Rescue Department’s Station No. 1 at 611 N. Liberty St.
Cast in 1902 by the McShane Foundry near Baltimore, Md., the 3,000-pound piece of finely tuned bronze was originally installed in the bell tower of City Hall when the headquarters of local government were at Ocean and Adams streets.
The bell, which tolled the hour, was part of a Seth Thomas clock with four 6-foot dials that were illuminated at night.
After the new City Hall opened at Bay and Newnan streets in October 1960, Klutho’s Indiana limestone and brick creation with its copper cornice and dome was demolished to make way for the Haydon Burns Public Library. The bell was polished, mounted on a pedestal and, in March 1961, placed in the lobby of the new City Hall to stand as a reminder of former days.
At some point, no one’s sure exactly when, the bell was taken from City Hall and stored out of sight for years.
That changed when firefighter Wayne Doolittle decided that those public safety servants who worked for Jacksonville Fire and Rescue and gave their lives in the line of duty deserved a memorial.
Doolittle was a firefighter for 32 years. He retired in 1995 and now serves as the president of the Jacksonville Retired Firefighters Association.
“The police had a memorial observance every year, but there was none for firefighters,” said Doolittle.
He had discovered the old bell stored in the basement of the City Armory a few blocks from the new Fire Station No. 1 that was under construction on Liberty Street.
Doolittle knew the new station had a large open space on the site that would be perfect for a monument.
Finding the bell was the final piece of the puzzle, since bells and firefighters have been connected for as long as volunteers have responded to a ringing bell signaling that help is needed quickly.
Doolittle also knew that having an expanse of lawn as part of the new fire station could be an issue. “Firefighters don’t care much to drag a hose to water grass and flowers,” he said.
He came up with a plan and presented it to former Mayor Jake Godbold, who was about to leave office after serving two terms as the City’s chief executive. Godbold asked Doolittle what he needed to do to make the memorial a reality.
Doolittle told Godbold he wanted him to transfer the old bell to JFRD. Godbold agreed, but with two conditions.
“Jake told me we had to build the memorial without any City funds and it had to be finished before he left office,” said Doolittle.
He went to work, soliciting donations from companies and individuals and enlisting a labor force from among his fellow firefighters, some of whom were bricklayers.
Doolittle said they even used a piece of fire apparatus to lift the bell and put it in place when the brick work was nearly complete.
The City closed Liberty Street in front of the station and installed a grandstand June 29, 1987, the day Jake Godbold dedicated the new station and the Fireman’s Memorial.
Every year since, JFRD has held a solemn ceremony in memory of the 22 Jacksonville firefighters who “have answered their last alarm” in the line of duty since 1885. The ceremony is scheduled this year during national Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 9-15.
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