Renwick Bell Tower Restorations Complete
Work on the historic structure was completed "within agreed timeline and allocated budget."
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The City of Fredericksburg announced last week that restoration work on the historic Renwick Complex’s bell tower is “100% complete.”
The completion marks “a significant milestone in the preservation of one of the City’s most important civic landmarks,” the December 31 announcement states.
Restoration work by Greensboro, North Carolina-based WxTite, LLC, began in May of 2025. The company was chosen following a competitive solicitation process.
Work included “interior structural framing repairs, masonry repointing, stucco and architectural stone repairs,” according to the announcement. “Throughout the project the contractor took special care to match historic brick, mortar and stucco materials and to protect the historic Paul Revere bell housed within the tower.”
The Renwick Courthouse, located at 815 Princess Anne Street, was designed by noted architect James Renwick Jr.—who later designed the Smithsonian Institution “Castle” in Washington, D.C. and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The “eclectic Gothic Revival style” of the courthouse makes it unique among Virginia’s civic buildings, according to a 2016 historic structures report prepared for the city of Fredericksburg.
It’s also unique because it is the only courthouse credited to Renwick, who is best known for designing churches and museums.
The courthouse was constructed between 1851 and 1852 by a local carpenter and builder, William Baggett, and was in public use in Fredericksburg from its opening in 1852 until 2014, when the new courthouse was completed. It has stood largely vacant since then and is “being evaluated for future uses,” according to last week’s announcement.
The bell tower houses a 600-pound bronze bell cast at the Paul Revere Foundry in Boston. It is the only known Paul Revere bell in Virginia and one of only 134 of the foundry’s bells that survive, according to the announcement.
Restoration work extended into November “after it was discovered that [the southwest chimney] was at risk of collapse,” the announcement states. “The chimney is once again stable, and plaster that had to be removed to accommodate the repair has now been fully restored.”
The work was completed “within agreed timeline and allocated budget,” according to the city’s announcement.
The city’s current five-year capital improvement plan—approved as part of the budget for fiscal year 2026, which runs through June 30, 2026—includes $125,000 for “Renwick building improvements.” Another $125,000 is budgeted in fiscal years 2028 and 2029, for a total of $375,000.
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