Bell Tower News

But with encouragement from a UNC alumna, University officials have decided to get the clock ticking correctly again by renovating the Bell Tower.

Lucinda Wilcox, a 1958 graduate, thought of the idea to renovate the Bell Tower because it had not been repaired since the early 1970s.

"It's always been one of my favorite aspects of the campus," she said. "It has been a symbol of the University."

Plans for the Bell Tower include the addition of two new bells, restoration to the unit that programs the songs the bells play and restoration of the clock.

"We don't want a new Bell Tower," Associate Provost Kate McGaughey said.

"We want to restore what we have because there's so much historical significance to it."

Wilcox has a wonderful interest in the history of the Bell Tower and the institution, McGaughey said.

"She wanted the Bell Tower to play a wider variety of songs, especially patriotic songs," McGaughey said.

Wilcox not only thought of the idea to renovate the Bell Tower, but she said she also designated a portion of her bicentennial gift to its $100,000 renovation. Other funding for the Bell Tower came from the Morehead Foundation and undesignated gifts from alumni.

The addition of the two new bells will give the Bell Tower a wider range of notes, which means more songs can be played, said Heather Causey, a graduate in the music department who plays the music in the Bell Tower after football games.

University officials decided that as long as the Bell Tower was going to be renovated, the faces and wiring of the clock should also be restored.

"The weight in the hands of the clock is off," McGaughey said. "When the clock hits a certain time the hands just kind of slide down and then they speed up on the other side."

McGaughey said workers would also restore the clock's faces because the paint and the numbers are worn. The renovation is expected to be finished by the start of the football season next year.

Bell Tower's age blamed for quirks

Aside from its quirky off-key rings, several problems have plagued the Bell Tower recently.

"Something's wrong with it. Some of the tones are missing," said Laura Bright, a freshman from Cary.

Songs have been noticeably missing some of their notes, and the clock often displays the wrong time.

Charles Gallagher, Physical Plant maintenance supervisor, said he attributed the Bell Tower's problems to old age.

The clock's mechanism, which controls the time and the chimes, was installed in 1967, he said. Before then, the bells operated using a system of ropes.

"It's just worn out from years of use," he said.

Gallagher said the bell system would be replaced in May after students leave for the summer. The work should be completed before the beginning of the fall semester.

Associate Director of Buildings and Grounds Jim MacFarquhar said the work would be funded by private donations.

A private contractor will replace some of the old bells and add new ones, Gallagher said. The clock will also receive new hands.

However, the Bell Tower is not the only thing getting a facelift.

The hedge surrounding the Bell Tower will also receive some improvements this week, said Kirk Pelland, grounds superintendent.

Facilities services proposed the plan to trim the bushes, and it was adopted at the Board of Trustees meeting Jan. 22, he said.

Pelland said facilities services saw the overgrown shrubs as a possible safety hazard.

"(The Bell Tower) is a forbidding place you wouldn't want to go near after dark," MacFarquhar said.

He added that the bushes were also causing traffic problems because they were blocking the view of drivers turning onto South Road.

The shrubs have not been significantly pruned in over 15 years, said Pelland.

On Wednesday, about two feet of growth will be trimmed off the hedges, he said.

"It is going to look unusual," Pelland said. "The boxwoods are going to look like everyone on campus feels after we lose a game."

He said the bushes would take at least a year to completely fill out with new growth, but that they should look fine by football season.

The cramped conditions between the hedges are another reason why they should be trimmed, Pelland said.

"When I first came here, you could drive a tractor between them. Now you can barely ride a bike through there," he said.

Pelland said facilities services is doing what it thinks is right by pruning the hedges.

"We're staying ahead of what could be a security problem."

Work began Monday to fix the clock and replace two bells in the 67-year-old structure. When it is finished, a new mechanism will synchronize the clock and bells.

The project is estimated to cost around $100,000, money that was raised through private contributions and donations.

The tower was dedicated in 1931 by John Motley Morehead III and his cousin, Rufus L. Patterson II. It was built to honor their family members who attended UNC.

The tower has not been renovated since the 1970s.

On those days, Wilcox stands outside and listens to the ringing of the bells high atop the recently refurbished Bell Tower. Her donations helped modernize the once-ailing clock and its bell system.

But what was music to Wilcox's ears had left some students in Carmichael Residence Hall tossing and turning last semester. These sleepless students said that since the renovations to the tower were completed, the volume of the bells had grown clamorous. Even with closed windows and earplugs, students such as Joanna Jordan said they no longer could suffer through the nocturnal chiming.

"There is no good reason why the Bell Tower should continue to interrupt our sleep in order to keep us informed of the time or to play excerpts from The Sound of Music," Jordan wrote in a letter she co-authored to The Daily Tar Heel. "The welfare of students should come before the vanity of the University."

Jordan's letter got the ball rolling for a small campaign to silence the bedtime tolling. Stories on the chiming of the Bell Tower appeared in local newspapers and radio.

Alas, Jordan's mission was accomplished, and students inside Carmichael are snoring again. Associate Vice Chancellor Bruce Runberg said University officials heard students' sighs and decided in December to let the Bell Tower sleep.

"We are going to go ahead and turn the chimes [and] bells off from the hours of 12:15 a.m. until 7:15 a.m.," Runberg said. "In the wee hours of the night, it will not strike."

And Jordan says that decision ought to put the Bell Tower controversy to rest.

The tower was refurbished last year at a cost of $100,000. Funding came from Wilcox, the Morehead Foundation and from undesignated gifts. Renovations included restoring the clock, polishing the bells and adding two new bells and a computer system.