Historic Danville siren finds new home at Vermilion County War Museum

DANVILLE, Ill. (WAND) — The Vermilion County War Museum unveiled a preserved piece of Danville history Sunday.

The museum unveiled the Civil Defense siren that had been on the top of the Breese Tower in downtown Danville until the building was demolished last year.

The siren, located in the museum's Cold War area, was sounded monthly for decades and used for weather alerts. The museum said the original purpose of the siren during the Cold War was to warn people of the need to immediately go to the nearest fallout shelter.

The museum said the siren fell over 160 feet and was severely damaged when the building was torn down.

War Museum President and Executive Director Larry Weatherford said they worked with Ceader's Collision Repair, a local auto body shop, to restore the Siren. The shop matched the original paint after using machines to get the siren straightened out.

Ceader's also added a siren recording and a 3D image of the Breese Tower to the front of it.

The War Museum is open from 12-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.