If you have ever visited Nassau Knolls Cemetery or even driven past on Port Washington Boulevard, it is hard to miss the bell tower. The tall brick structure, somewhat resembling a lighthouse, is the centerpiece of the memorial park and is prominently featured in the cemetery’s logo.
But for years it was dilapidated, serving primarily as a home for birds.
“We had pigeons living in here, and there was a big pile of pigeon crap in the middle,” said Jim Galante, who has worked at Nassau Knolls for almost 40 years and is now the general manager. “We used to shovel it out once a year and it was nasty.”
It was Galante who made the push to restore music in the tower last year, and this month he oversaw the finishing touches being put on the tower’s refurbishment.
“The day the chimes were finished … I literally cried,” he said. “At its worst, the tower was sad to look at, and now it’s a gem again.”
The bell tower was built in 1940, about 40 years after the cemetery opened. It was built as a chimes tower, with 18 tubular bells made in Roslyn.
But harsh weather and neglect caused the tower to fall into disrepair. Windows were broken or collapsed, turning the tower into a giant birdhouse. Likewise, the bells had significantly deteriorated by the late 1960s and were eventually removed.
Chimes rang out across the cemetery for the first time in decades in April 2017, when new speakers were installed. Although there are no longer physical chimes in the tower, the new speakers can play over 600 different songs, including Christmas carols, patriotic songs and traditional hymns. It can also play more than just chimes, such as a rendition of “Taps” played on trumpet.
“I can just punch in a code from the office, and it plays automatically,” Galante said.
With chimes ringing out across Port Washington once again, Galante and the rest of the Nassau Knolls staff turned their attention to refurbishing the rest of the tower.
One of the major focuses of the rehabilitation was replacing the stained glass windows on the ground floor. The original windows had been removed long ago and were very religious in nature, Galante said. Since Nassau Knolls is nondenominational, he decided to have the new windows focus on nature.
“We went for a nature theme, and we picked birds and animals … native to Port Washington,” Galante said.
The three glass windows were done by Indre McCraw, who formerly worked with Port Stained Glass but now operates out of Los Angeles.
Upon entering, the center window facing the door contains several animals native to Port Washington— a fox, a rabbit, an osprey— and a small facsimile of the tower itself.
“My thought was to scale it down and put it bottom center so it anchors the design,” she said of the tower. “It’s in there, but it doesn’t hit you over the head.”
The window on the left features two doves, while the window on the right features a lone cardinal. McGraw said the doves window represents spring, summer and the grief over losing a partner, while the cardinal window represents fall, winter and solitary grieving for a friend or family member.
McCraw said she included a lot of clear panels so that visitors can see the surrounding scenery.
And while the inside was traditionally closed off for visitors, the refurbished tower will be seeing many more people in the future. The inside has been completely refurbished, the room is now climate controlled, and shelving has been installed to hold the urns of the cremated.
These niches, of which there are 214 in total, are behind glass and can hold up to three urns. Galante said several niches had already been sold, and that these sales helped pay for the tower’s rehabilitation.
“It took so long to fix the tower because we didn’t have the money,” he said. “Installing this let us refurbish the whole tower.
