Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 14 : Fall 2012 | Page 41

and circular of the Madawaska Training School for 1888
advertised the benefits expected from the new facilities at
Fort Kent.” Grindle’s reference was to the original Cyr Hall.

Grindle’s account quotes Principal Cyr
recommending “The school needs a LITTLE more money
from the State to make the building and its surroundings
comfortable and attractive.” The finishing touches called
for by Cyr included painting the building inside and out, a
bell tower and a bell, and grading and fencing the grounds.
The state legislature responded to Cyr’s request with a
special appropriation.

“With this money a belfry was added. A bell was
ordered, as well as a fancy weather vane for the top of the
belfry,” Grindle notes. The bell rang for more than seven
decades.

In 1959, the original Cyr Hall had reached the end
of its useful life, and the institution, now known as Fort
Kent State Normal School, ordered its demolition that fall.

According to the original specifications for the
building’s demise, now housed within UMFK’s Acadian
Archives Acadiennes, “Sealed bids for the demolition of a
wooden structure known as Cyr Hall will be received in the
office of the Principal of Fort Kent State Normal School on
or before July 31, 1959. Bids will be opened on that date in
the office of the Principal.”
The specifications stated that “All materials contained
within the building at the time when demolition starts shall
be the property of the person doing the demolition with the
following exceptions:

“The bell, which will be retained by the Normal
School. The person doing the demolition is expected to
remove the bell from the tower and lower it to the ground.”
Anecdotal accounts of the whereabouts of the bell from
that point forward are rather sketchy. Locals recall hearing
stories about neighborhood children playing on the bell as
it sat on the lawn, near to what is today’s main entrance to
campus. Concern for the bell’s well-being saw it removed
from the lawn. But to where? It might have been moved
to the safety of a basement in a