A one-thousand-pound bell was ringing today on schedule for the first time in ten years in Portage la Prairie.

"The city's been working on a project to get the bell ringing again," says Dave Green, City Parks Manager. "It hasn't been operational for approximately ten years. We were lucky to get some funding through the Canada 150 grant process. We've installed a stationary ringer."

Green in top level of City Hall beside the power supply for the bell ringer, with the programming unit just to the left of the box covered by a grey plastic window

Green explains it's the same bell, but it just doesn't swing. A 92-pound electronic mechanism moves the ringer or tongue inside the one thousand pound bell instead. It took about $15,000 dollars to install and will ring every day at 9:00 a.m., noon and 6:00 p.m.