Placerville’s historic Bell Tower Plaza could become a wedding venue

The city of Placerville is looking for ways to attract more visitors to its downtown. That includes turning the city's iconic Bell Tower Plaza into a wedding venue. 

City council member John Clerici came up with the idea to transform the Bell Tower, which is located on Historic Main Street. 

The bell was cast in England then delivered to Placerville in 1865. Its ornamented tower, complete with a drinking fountain and weather vane, was presented to the city on Sept. 8, 1898 and originally used as a way to alert volunteer firefighters when fires broke out.  

"I think there's all sorts of possibilities, but maybe we should just sort of start it small and go from there and see how it works and it may be a total dud, who knows,” Clerici said at a recent council meeting. “Hopefully, if it did generate some money, we could start to fix the Bell Tower because it's looking pretty shaky right now.”

City council members voted to give the idea a limited test-run of three weddings and then revisit the program. Renting the space for a wedding would cost $500, plus a $100 damage and deposit. The funds collected from the weddings would be used for upkeep and preservation of the Bell Tower.

Vice Mayor Jackie Neau said new city programs are always re-evaluated after one year, but, in this case, she feels this should happen sooner.  

"We have not talked to the merchants yet. We don't have any idea how this is going to work,” she said. “So, I'd really like to see us reevaluate it after three events to see if it's working or it's not working — not say it has to go for an entire year." 

The council passed the proposal on a 4-0 vote. Mayor Michael Saragosa was absent from this meeting. 

The Placerville Economic Advisory Committee, which had developed the proposal for city council’s consideration, laid out several parameters, which the council accepted. They include: 

• Only five people at any one time would be allowed in the Bell Tower, to include the officiant, the bride and groom and two witnesses;
• Additional attendees would have to remain on the sidewalk and view the proceedings from there; 
• The streets around the tower, known as “The Triangle,” would not be closed for wedding ceremonies; 
• One hour would be allotted for the performance of the ceremony.