A ten-year dream has come true as more than
$400,000 in private gifts has been given to the Arkansas State University
Foundation to
complete the 23-bell carillon in the clock tower of the Dean B. Ellis library on
the Jonesboro campus.
The carillon is now chiming the full Westminster chimes at each quarter hour from 7 a.m. until midnight. Additionally, a daily pealing of the bells at 8 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. features songs like the ASU alma mater and the ASU loyalty song. The carillon will also chime a variety of patriotic and seasonal tunes during the year, said ASU Development Director Steve Watkins.
The bells to complete the carillon were hung during the week of April 14, while the programming of the audio equipment was conducted around May 13-14.
"We believe the completed carillon is providing a great new dynamic to the ASU campus environment," Watkins said.
Which is one of the reasons why it was planned. According to Dr. Ruth Hawkins, ASU director of Delta Heritage Initiatives, the carillon project was the brainchild of former ASU president Dr. Eugene Smith.
"When construction was planned for the Dean B. Ellis library addition, President Smith wanted the library to be the most distinctive place in Jonesboro," Dr. Hawkins explained. "It was planned so the building could be seen and the bells heard for miles around. He believed it would be distinctive–a touchstone with which students, alumni and the community could identify."
Dr. Smith said the complete bell carillon with its 23 bells was in the original plans, but cost overruns dictated scaling back to the initial four bells, which were installed in 1994.
"I knew this was important for the
university," Smith noted. "The construction folks advised they could
either build the bell and clock tower or install the second elevator going to
the eighth floor, but we did not have the funds for both. I told them to build
that tower; we’d find the funds for the elevator later on."
He was right. The university completed the installation of the second elevator during the Fall 2002 semester.
Dr. Hawkins said after the four bells were installed, the feeling was that the other 19 bells could be funded through charitable giving. She said as names came to mind of alumni and friends who might want to honor or memorialize others, the Development Office would make contact with those individuals, or the individuals would contact Development.
"One of my favorite things to do in the early stages of encouraging donors was to take them up in the bell tower before the sides of the building were constructed." she said. "It was pretty impressive."
Watkins said the framework is in place in the bell tower to accommodate up to 48 bells, should the university want to add more later.
Dr. Hawkins believes the carillon will play an important role on the ASU campus.
"A mature university needs distinctive traditions," she said. "This is a great legacy for Arkansas State University."
