Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: STEEPLE CRACK SHUTS CHURCH

tower-hill-1-103013-500x375-1251303The 61-year-old steeple, which rises to 128 feet from the ground, has a failing timber inside, a church official says.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

tower-hill-2-103013-220x165-9703205A cracked timber in the steeple has forced the temporary closure of the landmark First Presbyterian Church at Tower Hill in Red Bank.

Borough officials ordered the church and an adjoining school closed Tuesday morning after structural engineers could not rule out a catastrophic collapse of the 70-foot tall steeple, said construction official Stanley Sickels.

“In these situations, you either get to see it before it collapses or after,” he said. “There’s no way of knowing” what might trigger a failure.

The discovery prompted the shutdown of the Tower Hill School, as well as the relocation of Sunday services and community group meetings that serve hundreds of congregants and visitors each week, church property manager Rob Wallman tells redbankgreen. It could also derail a wedding planned for next week.

The issue is a lengthwise crack along a bolt line on a 12-by-4 inch timber that’s part of a warren truss, a diagonal support with the steeple, which was built in 1952, said Wallman.

The support structure “is very strong, but when one component fails, it throws loads onto other components,” Wallman said. “We want to play it safe.”

Sickels, who also serves as borough administrator and fire marshal, said wind, rain or the failure of another component stressed by the crack cause the steeple to collapse.

Though the school is considered a safe distance from the steeple, a collapse could flatten the church itself, leading to a domino effect on the school, Sickels said.

Drawings for a plan to encase the timber in steel are being readied for borough approval, with the aim of reopening the church by Sunday, November 10, Wallman said.

Sickels said the town was awaiting those plans, as well as applications for welding and other necessary permits, and declined to speculate if the work could be finished by November 10.

The following day, students had been scheduled to return to school after a four-day weekend, thanks to a teachers’ conference, Wallman said.

Meanwhile, this Sunday’s church services will be consolidated into a single service at 1 p.m. at the United Methodist Church, also in Red Bank, Wallman said.

Dozens of group meetings for organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Alcoholics Anonymous have to be canceled or moved.

There’s also a wedding scheduled for Friday, November 8 that Wallman isn’t sure is going to happen at the church as planned.

Wallman said he discovered the damage after tracking the source of a leak above the choir loft to the steeple, where he found that the six-foot-long timber was splitting.

He speculated that a recent northeaster had caused the crack, which was not evident after either Hurricane Irene or Hurricane Sandy. Wallman said he usually climbs up into the structure to inspect it every two months, but hadn’t been inside for three months when he found the damage.

The steeple is designed to be realigned with tension rods when it gets knocked out of true vertical.

Fire department representatives happened to be underneath the steeple doing a fire safety program for children when Wallman reported the damage and advised that the kids be removed, Sickels said.

The church has asked that a firetruck with a water-charged hose be on hand as a additional precaution when the welding repairs are made, Wallman said.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
Performers at Red Bank’s Juneteenth community celebration Sunday at Johnny Jazz Park. (photo by Brian Donohue)      
BUTTERFLIES LOVE THE WEED
Save the monarch, plant butterfly weed. (photo and text by Partyline contributor Roseann DalPra)  
LANTERNFLY PARTY
An invasive ailanthus tree sprouting in front of the US Post Office on Broad Street is covered with invasive spotted lantern fly nymphs Wedn ...
STREETCORNER SERENADE
An Irish doodle named Cheddar listens to native New Jerseyan, singer/songwriter and former Houston resident Tom Foti, (identified in the hea ...
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...
DOZENS OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS “PAINT RED BANK”
Plein air artists take over town for first ever "Paint Red Bank" event. (click to read)
RED BANK: SIGN ON ICONIC DANNY’S STEAK HOUSE COMES DOWN
The sign hanging from the shuttered Danny's Steak House comes down ten months after a manager reported Danny's Steakhouse would be back "bet ...
FOR YANKEES FANS, GOOD TRASH PICKIN’
A collection of framed photographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other New York Yankees greats was placed curbside along with a ...
RED BANK: NEW HANDICAPPED PARKING, WEST SIDE MEETING PLANNED
New handicapped parking sign West Side advocate had pressed for is installed, with meeting planned to discuss other concerns. (click to read ...
SUNSET AT SUMMER’S START
Crazy sunset clouds shot from Monmouth Boat Club on the Friday evening at the start of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. ...
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.