Steelville Board of Aldermen voted on May 4 to donate the steeple from the old gazebo to the Steelville Historical Society at the request of Tamra Cape.

Funds raised by community members to save the gazebo will now go toward creating a display for the steeple at the Steelville History Museum once it is built.

After county commissioners first learned the gazebo wasn’t structurally sound in 2018, a group of citizens donated money to go toward restoring it. The group only obtained the roof of the gazebo, which then became city property. The rest of it, which had been leaning on the side of the courthouse, was removed.

The roof ended up sitting at the Community Building for several years and then behind The Main Deck for just under a year before the aldermen voted to disassemble it in March.

City crews salvaged the steeple from the roof, which was the only original piece remaining on it. The rest was re-roofed in the 1950s.

“The money was donated to try to keep it at the courthouse,” Cape said. “It was deteriorated enough that we could not save it to erect it again somewhere else.”

However, those funds are still in an account at First Community National Bank. Now that the roof is gone, they can no longer be put toward their original purpose, but it was Cape’s idea to find a way to still honor its history.

“The only thing that we can really do with it now is try to save the steeple, put it in the History Museum and tell its story,” she said. “At least that way, we can still use (the funds) for the gazebo, just in a different way.”

To go along with the steeple, Cape will be creating a plaque with information about the gazebo. The final display is still a few years down the road as the History Museum is not done being built yet.

Many people who grew up in Steelville have fond memories of the original gazebo. It was decorated for Christmas each year and kids would visit Santa inside of it. A Miss Dogwood was crowned on the gazebo at the annual Dogwood Days Festival. There were political speeches, choir concerts and community gatherings for years in and around the structure.

“Back when I was a little kid, it was a really important part of our community — we had a lot of stuff happen on that gazebo,” Cape said. “It was a big part of the town.”

The goal of the display will be to continue on the gazebo’s legacy, even if it is no longer standing.