The tower that holds the church bell that chimed 'til it rang 29 times is being renovated.

Work on the bell tower at Mariners' Church of Detroit at 170 E. Jefferson Ave. is scheduled to be completed by the first week of September, weather permitting.

It holds the Brotherhood Bell, best known for chiming 29 times to commemorate the lives lost in the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck of 1975 on Lake Superior (and referenced in the 1976 Gordon Lightfoot song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald").

Improvements include repairs to the structure of the bell's frame, along with a new controller and carillon, and new roofs above and below the bell enclosure, according to Ken Morse, trustee and chairman of Mariners' Church.

Drivers on East Jefferson near the Detroit-Windsor tunnel might come across a crane blocking one of the lanes that is expected come and go throughout repairs, according to Morse.

"For some of the repairs to the bell and the controllers for the bell they're having to remove the roof and lower tools ... from the top because there's just no way you can get them up from the spiral staircase that goes up there ... there's just not enough space," he said.

The general contractor on the project is Mount Clemens-based RB Construction Co.

Total costs of the bell tower project are more than $100,000, which will be funded by donations, Morse said.

In 1955, the church was moved 880 feet east along Jefferson from the foot of Woodward Avenue to accommodate plans for a downtown Civic Center.

"There was talk of actually just knocking the church down and there was quite a large contingent of people that got together and said 'No, this is a pretty important building. We can't just knock it down,'" Morse said.

The mammoth three-month move was chronicled in Life Magazine's April 25, 1955, issue, spokesman Patrick Liebler said.

"They literally lifted up 3,000 tons of stone building, put it on rails and ... moved the church very, very slowly to where it currently sits," Morse said.

Other ongoing projects include renovations to the administrative level of the church. Prior to the church's move, the tunnel beneath the sanctuary was used by a bank and several other storefronts. It now consists of a conference room and offices, where people meet after services, Morse said.

Founded in 1842 by Julia Ann Anderson and her sister, the church was formed as a free nondenominational independent parish with a focus on sailors. It eschewed "pew fees" policies many churches required at the time, The Detroit News reported. Today the church is home to an independent Anglican congregation.