NEW MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Restoration work gives us the ability to connect us with the past and keep history alive. For a senior at Springfield Local High School, it’s a mission to restore the old elementary school bell.

John Roland is working to become an Eagle Scout, for his final project he chose to restore a significant piece of history: the original Elementary School bell. It’s been around since 1874.

“Got a lot of history in it,” Roland said. “Since it’s at the elementary school, the kids can ring it and whatnot. It’s just a nice thing to have and it’s going to look really nice.”

Right now the bell is sitting on John’s back porch, which has become his workstation.

“The actual refurbishment of the bell, that’s just been hours and hours of sanding on it. All the hardware, we have replaced most of that, refurbished all the old stuff that we could,” Roland said.

So far he and his family have paid for the cost of the work, but they are looking to secure some donations for the capstones.

“It’s neat to see the students take an active history in the community that they live in and go to school in,” said David Malone, principal at Springfield Local High School.

Roland is working on a timeline: the project must be completed before the end of December.

“We had this project idea back more than six months ago,” Roland said. “To actually get everyone together to talk to companies about getting the brick the concrete the tools and everything, it’s taking a long time to put that together.”

“It’s going to leave a legacy here that’s going to live long past John and I that’ll be here for generations to enjoy,” Malone said.

This is the second Eagle Scout project where an old piece of history in Springfield was revitalized. The first was the Veterans Memorial in the football stadium.