By Bill Forry
Managing Editor

The long-awaited reconstruction of the landmark wedding cake steeple atop First Parish Church will commence with a search for a hidden time capsule that could reveal new details about this community's storied history. The historic, tin treasure box -placed beneath the tower's weathervane more than 100 years ago- will be located and opened next month before workers begin disassembling and rebuilding the structure.

"The top of the steeple should be taken down starting in mid-to-late October," says First Parish pastor, Rev. Art Lavoie, who said details of the contract still had to be finalized. "The work will be done on a weekend, because we will need to block off part of Parish Street."

It is thought that the contents of the time capsule include materials from two different eras of the church's history.

"There is an old sermon that talks about a time capsule being in there from the early 1800s," says Lavoie. "That original time capsule survived a fire that destroyed the church in 1896. New materials were then added and put back" in the steeple when the new church was dedicated, Lavoie said.

"It's in a ball that sits right under the weathervane," Lavoie says. "We hope that the contents have survived the years. They are in a tin box, so that's the hope."

First Parish Church- as its name suggests- was the original congregation set up by Puritan settlers who arrived in Dorchester in 1630. Today, a Unitarian Universalist congregation worships in the space and maintains strong ties with the surrounding community, throwing open their doors regularly for civic meetings, concerts and Dorchester-wide events. There has been a church building on the present site at Meetinghouse Hill since 1806.

Today the white, wooden structure that dominates Dorchester's seaside landscape is the sixth version of First Parish Church since the 17th century. The top of the steeple has taken on a noticeable lean in recent years, as the elements have taken their toll over the last century. And while stop-gap repairs have been made to prevent any collapse, a permanent renovation is needed to secure its long-term survival.

"There is structural damage there," Lavoie says. "The roof of the bell tower has deteriorated and is breaking apart. A little over two years ago, someone came in and shored up that part of the steeple. It's not in imminent danger, but the shoring is only going to last so long. We want it down before the winter storms hit."

Lavoie says that the church's bell- which is still in working condition- will be removed during the renovations and then reinstalled when the roof of the belfry is replaced.

First Parish's restoration efforts are getting major support from the non-profit group Historic Boston, Inc., whose "Steeple Project" has come to the aide of several other Dorchester buildings in recent years, including Codman Square's landmark Second Church of Dorchester. The organization funded an architectural study of First Parish's building as a precursor to the larger rehabilitation that will begin this fall. A second, matching grant from Historic Boston is helping with the actual construction work, which carries an estimated price tag of $200,000. Lavoie says that the parish community has been instrumental in raising the matching funds- and is intent on doing more this year and in 2007 to raise additional monies.

"Historic Boston- and their project manager Jillian Adams- have been instrumental in this whole effort," said Lavoie, who began his ministry at Meetinghouse Hill last year.

"It's been 110 years since this building was built and our architect is designing (the renovations) in a way that it should last longer than that."

Lavoie said a major event would be planned around the time capsule's removal and opening. A date will be announced in the coming weeks.