Pigeons make home, and leave a mess, inside clock tower at Watertown's First Baptist Church

Nov. 14—WATERTOWN — For years, the city has had a problem with crows leaving their droppings on downtown sidewalks, buildings, vehicles and in residential neighborhoods.

And now the messy problem is with pigeon excrement in the clock tower of the 132-year-old First Baptist Church on State Street.

The city's caretaker of the church clock warns that something needs to be done quickly to clean up the mess left behind by pigeons that have made their home inside the church tower in recent years.

Steve Massaro, who has taken care of the clock for the city for the past five years, says that the church bell is covered by pigeon droppings.

He was just up in the clock tower recently, where he observed a couple of inches of excrement "just caked on the bell," Massaro said last week.

After alerting Pastor Paul LaBreck about the situation, Massaro had a Syracuse-based cleanup firm, CRAL Contracting, look at the situation to determine what should be done to clean it up.

The firm quickly concluded that "remediation is essential," according to an email that Massaro sent out last week to city officials, preservationists and community leaders.

According to Massaro, the condition is caused by "years of exposure, ongoing water intrusion and the accumulation of pigeon waste and debris."

He's worried about what will happen if nothing is done.

Former City Councilman Patrick J. Hickey attended last week's council meeting "to put the city on notice" about the bell's condition.

Pigeon droppings, also known as pigeon guano, is considered a hazardous waste and can pose health and safety risks.

It also contains uric acid that can damage the church bell, Hickey said.

To remove it, workers would have to wear protective coveralls, gloves and boots hooked up to a face respirator.

Massaro has put together a plan to clean up the bell. His plan would cost about $32,500 to hire the Syracuse company.

The cleanup itself would cost $12,000. It would take another $3,000 to install railings and platforms to make it safe to get up there, using funding to match a previous $7,500 grant that the church obtained and an additional $9,000 to keep the pigeons out of the tower.

While pigeons getting into churches is a common occurrence, Jon Carnes, an architect with Crawford & Stearns architectural firm in Syracuse, said: "It's a big issue that needs to be addressed."

Massaro is calling on the community to come together to get the job done. He's arranged for the Northern New York Community Foundation to take donations.

The bell, clock, clockwork and clock dials are owned by the city, he said. The masonry and tower structure are actually owned by the church.

The city has only provided funding to repair the clock, leaving the clock tower needing major repairs, Massaro said, adding that the church and small congregation don't have the money to fix it.

"Time is the enemy," he said.

If nothing is done in the next five or 10 years, he predicts that the clock tower will have to be torn down.

"The First Baptist Church and the clock tower are on every historical postcard of downtown," he said.

The pigeons got in through the bell's louvered openings that allow for the sound of the bell to resonate throughout downtown, LaBreck said. The north country's weather also has caused water damage over the years, he said.

To correct the problem and not silence the bell, Massaro suggests installing screens on the outside of the steeple.

But Michael A. Lumbis, the city's planning and community development director, said the city is only responsible for the care of the clock face and the clock.

He still stressed that he's worried about the clock tower's future.

"It's very, very concerning," Lumbis said.

LeBreck, who became the church's leader in July after the retirement of the Rev. Jeff Smith, will be involved in the fundraising efforts for the clock tower.

"It's a mess," he said.

There were already efforts on behalf of the church. Earlier this year, Massaro raised $20,000 to get the church's weather vane restored.

Three years ago, the church received a $7,500 grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy that must be matched for the church to use it.

However, the executive director recently notified Massaro that the grant needs to be used soon or that money will be lost and be given to another group.

Two years ago, Crawford & Stearns completed an assessment of the damage that found the building needs roof and masonry work of the clock tower, among other repairs.

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a group of community leaders announced that they hoped to raise money to complete some infrastructure repairs.

But they could not obtain a $221,000 state grant to kick-start the work, Lumbis said. The efforts waned as the pandemic continued.