Call it a cupola or bell tower, but something is definitely missing atop Branford's historic Academy on the Green building.

The removal of the cupola for restoration is actually part of a project authorized a few years back and finalized in the 2013-'14 budget. That's when the town added $15,000 to its prior authorization of $40,000 to create a $55,000 budget to repair the top "bell" of the tower as well as replacing tower posts, several of which had significant wood rot. The town lists the topper as a "bell tower" in its budget detail.

However, Branford Town Historian and Academy on the Green Commission Chair Jane Bouley prefers the more proper descriptive term, "cupola." Bouley said the structural fix was also badly needed and the commission was "very happy" to see the town put the project out for the bidding process.

"We've known for some time that the pillars that hold up the cupola on top of the Academy, some of them were rotting. We've been concerned for a while [that] in a blizzard or a hurricane, it would fall down, which would have been shameful," said Bouley.

The work is being undertaken by M.N. Real Construction of Branford.

"When they removed it, indeed five of the eight pillars were rotting," said Bouley. "They're going to take several months to do the proper repairs."

The repairs will be done so that the returning structure will be "in better condition than what came off," said Bouley.

The pillars will be wooden to ensure historic accuracy and mimic the original architecture and other details of those installed when the Academy was first built in 1820.

"I think the cupola is just an amazing part of the structure, but it's the whole thing that's important," said Bouley. "It's been moved three times and it's amazing it wasn't torn down in all those years."

Bouley noted the Academy was built as a private school by a minister of Branford's First Congregational Church, using his own money. The building was originally constructed on the site of the current Town Hall, then was moved behind the Town Hall and finally came to rest at its current location thanks to a community-charged effort in the 1970s.

"That was a wonderful town-wide effort," said Bouley. "Everyone was behind it. It was a real heartening thing that everyone did." "

The building was rented by the town and used as school space and became the property of the Masons until the organization turned it over to the Town of Branford some 40 years ago. The town established the Academy on the Green Commission in 1972.