For generations, their steeples have anchored the backdrop of downtown Danville. Now, because of the unforgiving passage of time, three churches in the borough are in the midst of expansive and expensive renovations.

The churches, all within a few blocks of each other, are doing tower, steeple and porch improvements at costs approaching $100,000 or more. A fourth has created a community park. It's just coincidence the work is going on at one time, according to pastors, who also said the projects are necessary to prolong the life of the buildings and steeples.

"These outdoor projects need to be done in late spring and summer when the weather is good," said the Rev. Judson Bennett, pastor of Mahoning Presbyterian Church at the corner of Ferry and East Mahoning streets.

Christ Memorial Episcopal Church expects a large project to be completed sometime this summer. Pine Street Lutheran Church recently built a community park and plans to tear down a home to eventually make way for more parking. Trinity Lutheran Church's bell tower and steeple is undergoing work, while Mahoning Presbyterian Church has finished a tower project and will soon be starting a porch replacement and painting job.

Music for the town

With Christ Memorial Episcopal, its tower had to be structurally shored up with steel beams. "It was in danger of being structurally unsound and collapsing," church pastor Rev. Dennis Berk said. "Part of it was braced and capped. It was open and had a flat roof and now has a pitched roof so the weather doesn't get into it like it used to."

A new feature was added to the tower project as well. Bells now chime at noon and at 6 p.m. and a hymn also plays. "They provide music for the town," he said.

The Erie-based contractor, Fiske and Sons, continues to work on the project, which began in 2007. Employees are repointing and regrouting the entire masonry on the light-colored stone church. They have sandblasted the walls to remove years of discoloration.

While the congregation was hoping it would be done in time for the Iron Heritage Festival, the project should be finished sometime this summer.

The church will be open during the festival. Four tracks of model trains will be running and historical displays of photographs will be set up. In addition, there will be tours of the church. "We will have hospitality hosts to greet and guide people," Berk said. The church will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 18 and 19.

The project has been done in three phases with the congregation, at East Market and Pine streets, paying as each is completed.

"We have been assured that the building is structurally sound now and has been stabilized. With a building from 1881, a lot can deteriorate over time. We have been preserving it so it remains here for the future," said Berk, the pastor since last August.

Community park

Pine Street Lutheran Church, at 407 Pine Street, tore down a house owned by a Snyder family and replaced it with a community park at Pine and Lower Mulberry streets. "We bought the house some time ago and last year demolished it," church pastor the Rev. L. Keith Pittsnogle said. The park contains three trees, a gazebo and benches with flowers to be added. "My office is along the street and I see a lot of people walking back and forth. This will provide a place for them to sit down and rest," he said.

Many parishioners provided money for the plants and benches. The park was finished recently with slate retained from the house. "We've used it to make a path from the sidewalk to the gazebo," he said.