At 600 White St. in Bowmanstown early Tuesday morning, the borough's former Faith Alive Church bell was lowered from its 120-plus-year-old tower.

The two-day project took five men from Lehighton's TNT Contracting, Bowmanstown's Powells Remodeling and Palmerton's K&K Doors and More to remove the tower and lower the 1899 bell to the ground.Complete with bats in the belfry, the tower was cut one leg at a time by chain saw and lifted by crane to the ground. The crew began to cut out the bell with areciprocating saw before attaching it to the crane by steel cables and lowering it slowly to the ground.Once on the sidewalk, the bell was able to be inspected by spectators. The brass body was covered indirt and patina with the faded engraved words, "Donated by the Ladies Aid Society 1899" on the front of the piece and Vanduzen Co. Cincinnati scrawled along the top.A large wooden wheel still tied by the original pulley rope was cut in half to fit the church ringer into the store. The process took roughly two hours to complete with the crew expecting to put in a full day for clean up and roof repair.In September 2013, Kedar Kankia took over the old "Pappy's Corner Store," changing the name to Relly's Deli and Convenient Store. Shortly after, he began the process of remodeling the building."Behind the panels of one wall we found a mural of Christ," he said.This prompted Kankia to consider a bigger project: Cutting down the tower and wheeling the 800-pound brass bell into the store to be displayed under the welcoming expression of the painted figure."People told me there was a picture behind it. I didn't believe it, but then I saw it."According to Kankia, Michael Troutman led TNT Contracting through the install remodeling process with the help of Ben Powell of Powells Remodeling and Rich Kichline of K&K Doors and More.Afterward, the first project the businesses agreed to donate their time and efforts into was the removal of the 3,400-pound tower and Buckeye Bell Foundry bell.Troutman said a chain saw was used to cut the tower's legs before the crane lifted it from its perch atop the church, which was built in 1892."After cutting the third leg of the tower we felt the whole thing shake," he said.The contractor said cutting loose and lowering the historic bell was a first for the company."We donated our time because it's a historical bell. Someone else quoted $10,000," Troutman said."When I bought this business in 2013 I never thought I'd get this far. This is very exciting," Kankia said.The bell is on display on newly constructed legs underneath the painting.